There is a time when Christmas comes to an end. When the presents have all been opened, the turkey eaten, and when the sight of another mince pie makes you wince, you know it's all over. That's probably around the time that you might start to notice your real Christmas tree looking a bit sorry for itself too.
While it can be tempting to take your tree to the nearest bin and be done with Christmas once and for all, there are more environmentally-friendly ways to dispose of your tree.
Planet-friendly options to dispose of your Christmas tree.
If Christmas trees go to landfill, they rot and release methane. Recycling your tree will significantly reduce the carbon footprint by up to 80% (around 3.5kg CO2e). Here are the best ways to do that:
Local Councils
By far the best way to dispose of your tree this Christmas is to check with your local council, all London councils run either a collection or drop-off point recycling service - check here.
If you want to do it yourself:
Make wood chip
If you are a bit green-fingered, you'll know doubt know how useful a wood chip mulch could be for your garden. Wood chip also has many great purposes such as protecting plants, helping to moderate soil conditions by retaining moisture, and slowly releasing it back into the soil. It also helps protect the soil against frost and surprises weeds from growing too. To convert your tree into woodchip mulch, you need a shredder. You can hire one if you don't own one yourself or reach out to a local gardening club that would likely be happy to help. Once chipped or mulched up, you can then spread your Christmas tree chips in your garden, or your local park or woodland area to help the soil and plants!
Make needle mulch
You can also make gardening mulch from the needles from your Christmas tree. Start collecting the needles as soon as they fall from your tree. The resulting mulch is perfect for plants that thrive in more acidic conditions, for example, sweet corn, cucumbers, beans, broccoli, turnips, cranberries, and blueberries.
Have a bonfire
Factoring carbon footprints? As well as having your tree chopped up and spread in your garden, the other method is to pop it on your own bonfire. This will significantly reduce the carbon footprint by up to 80%, as a 2-metre tall real Christmas tree the carbon footprint is 16kg C02e if it ends up in a landfill. Burning the tree will emit the carbon dioxide that I stored whilst it grew, therefore there is no net increase.
Create a frame for your climbing plants
You can also get creative with your Christmas tree and use it as a frame for your climbing plants. The bare tree can be planted as is in your garden border. Climbers such as sweet peas, clematis, or honeysuckle can then grow over it. You could also chop off any good-sized twiggy branches and use them to stake your plants later in the year.
Create a home for the hedgehogs
Chopping up your tree means that you can create a log pile house for any visitors seeking shelter in your garden. By trimming the twigs short and bundling them up, you have created an instant bug shelter - simply shove these in a bush and let them find their way. Hedgehogs will also appreciate logs stacked up to make a shelter for them during the cold winter months. Again if you do not have a garden, you can deposit your hedgehog home into your local woodland area, or give it to a wildlife-loving friend as a gift for Christmas!