Continuing our look at Christmas trees. Last week we looked at what environmental impacts a fresh cut tree has compared to a permanent tree. This time we are going to look at what to do with your fresh cut tree now that the eggnog has been drunk and all the Christmas presents are unwrapped. First, hopefully you are not bagging up your tree and sending it off to the landfill. With that said let’s take a look at some options to help the environment with your tree.

First, let’s look at what my family does with our tree. My wife and daughter love to make pine scented pillows as gifts for next year. So the first thing we do is cut several of the branches from the tree so we can strip the needles. This can be a fun activity especially if you have members of your family who just don’t want to let go of their holiday spirit right away. They gather the needled in paper bags and hit the sewing machine with small swatches of fabric and in no time they have a pile of pine scented pillows.

Not everything you can do with your tree is so Martha’esk. A survey commissioned by the National Christmas Tree Association found that 93 percent of the people who bought a real tree recycled it in some way. Several organizations such as wildlife refuge have collected discarded trees to sink in their ponds and lakes to give fish some structure to hide and lay eggs. (Please note, do not do this unless on your own private property, leave the wildlife management on public land to the wildlife managers on staff.)

Placing your tree in your backyard to provide shelter for birds and small mammals is not a new idea but it is a good idea that works well. You can also decorate your “yard tree” with edible treats for the birds. It can be adorned with strings of unsalted popcorn, dried fruit, and unshelled peanuts. You can also spread suet and or peanut butter on the branches and cones to provide a tasty snack to your wintering birds.

Constructing a brush pile in your backyard is always a good way to help your local critters. I have had a brush pile in my yard for many years and I am constantly seeing our birds, squirrels, rabbits and lately an opossum coming and going from its many entrances. In fact I recently had a visit from a Cooper’s Hawk and the first place our birds scattered to was the safety of the brush pile. A recent study I read found that Cooper’s Hawks attacked birds in the open more often and were less successful when smaller birds had some kind of conifer tree to escape to. I am not sure how I feel about that because I really like these bird eating hawks and hate to see them go hungry.

An Arizona State University researcher studied birds roosting in dense vegetation provided by evergreens during winter. They found that the dense vegetation reduced radiation heat loss (heat given off to the air from the birds bodies) reduced by 88 percent. That is a huge savings of energy when you consider every calorie helps to survive a winters night.

I like my brush pile to not stick out like a sore thumb so I don’t just throw my tree on a big heap of tangled branches. I take out my trimmer and cut the branches from the trunk and lay the cut branches across the pile– like a roof over a house. Not only does it look better it helps the tree break down faster. The trunk is sectioned in to manageable sizes and burned as firewood. Breaking down and returning the nutrients in our Christmas tree to the soils are another benefit of using a fresh cut tree.

No matter what you do with your tree this year, the mere fact that a fresh cut tree will break down in the environment (bio-degradable) is a huge advantage over a discarded artificial tree (used on average for only 6 years) which will remain in a landfill for centuries to come. With over 35 million fresh cut trees sold each year in the United States alone we can have your holiday tree and a healthy environment also. Until next time…