Dec 5, 20231 min read

How to Dispose of Your Christmas Tree

Doing Our Share to Keep Our Nation’s 30 Million Christmas Trees out of Landfills this Holiday Season

Here in the Dallas-Forth Worth area, we have plenty of options when it comes to recycling our Christmas trees. What’s most important: keeping approximately 30 million Christmas trees out of the landfills and put to good use instead.

According to the Sierra Club, recycled Christmas trees actually do a world of good, including:

Mulching
Combating coastal erosion
Feeding goats on farms and in zoos
Rebuilding sand dunes
Restoring habitats
Burning for economical fuel

Warning: If you leave anything on your tree, it cannot be recycled. This includes flocked trees made to look like they have snow on them. This also includes shreds of tinsel, left-over hooks to hold ornaments, and other incidental items that can damage recycling machinery and even injury recycling center workers.

If it is not a bare tree, it is destined for the landfill, not a recycling center.

Outside the DFW area? You can use Earth911 to locate a recycling center accepting Christmas trees near you. In addition, some (but not all) Home Depot locations, Scouting troops, and nonprofits accept Christmas trees at no charge.