With the holiday season wrapping up, many people are wondering what to do with their real Christmas trees.
Bill Lindberg, a Christmas tree educator with Michigan State University Extension, says the best option is to get your tree mulched.
"A lot of townships, cities, municipalities will offer this as a service. You just simply drag your tree out to the end of the street, and they will come by with the chipper and chip that up," Lindberg said.
Mulching your Christmas tree is the best option, according to Lindberg, because it recycling at its purist form.
"That will restore all that carbon that's in that tree back into the soil and increase the organic matter so that's the best thing we can do for after the holidays when a tree is all done," Lindberg said.
There are also some other alternatives if getting your tree mulched is not an option.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources recommends creating a brush pile on your property with the tree to provide habitat for wildlife or cut the tree up into smaller pieces for landscaping.
Disposing your Christmas tree should be done sooner rather than later, according to National Fire Protection Association. The association says 36% of U.S. home fires involving Christmas Trees occur after the holidays in January.
The NFPA says this is because Christmas trees dry out making them more flammable the longer they’re in a home.
Between 2018 and 2022 there were an estimated annual average of 155 home structure fires that began with Christmas trees, according to the NFPA.
To safely take down your decorations and dispose of your Christmas tree the NFPA has some suggestions.
The first is to only use the gripping area of any light cords, do not pull the cord as this can harm the wire and insulation of the cord and increasing the risk for shock or electrical fire.
They also recommend to make sure your electrical decorations in a dry place away from children, pets and water to avoid damage.
