How to get rid of your Christmas tree in an eco-friendly way
Sabrina Barr
·3 min read
Elf (Rex Features)
Now that Christmas has been and gone, those who celebrate it are faced with the miserable task of having to remove their festive decorations.
While taking down tinsel and fairy lights shouldn’t take too long, figuring out how best to dispose of your Christmas tree is far trickier.
Throwing your tree away in a landfill is an irresponsible course of action, as doing so will cause the tree to decompose and produce the greenhouse gas methane, environmental organisation Greenpeace explains.
So how can you get rid of your Christmas tree in a way that won’t have a detrimental impact on the environment?
Here are some of the most eco-friendly options:
Reach out to a local charity to collect it
There are several charitable organisations around the UK that arrange for Christmas trees to be collected from homes in exchange for a small monetary donation.
Once the trees have been collected, they're then recycled.
"What better way to dispose of your Christmas tree giving it a new lease of life than by registering it to be collected and recycled raising money for local charities," writes UK charity JustHelping.
To find a local charity that's collecting Christmas trees in England and Wales, take a look at this map here.
Take you tree to get recycled
Once your Christmas tree has fulfilled its festive purpose, there are multiple parks that you can take it to so that you can have it recycled.
From 5 January until 19 January, Surrey Heath Borough Council is running a scheme where members of the community can drop their Christmas trees off and have them turned into wood chippings.
These wood chippings are then used to "replenish paths in our parks".
The 20 best Christmas films - ranked
20. The Santa Clause (1994): When Tim Allen’s Scott Calvin accidentally kills Santa Claus (a nice, light-hearted beginning to a family film) he is expected to take his place. He refuses at first – but when his hair turns white, a beard and belly grow overnight, and children start approaching him with their wish lists, he reluctantly takes the mantle. It’s weirder and darker than it has any right to be, but it’s enjoyable to watch. (Buena Vista Pictures)
19. The Apartment (1960): When writer and director Billy Wilder first watched Brief Encounter, in which two people use a friend’s house to consummate an affair, he wrote in his notebook: “What about the poor schnook who has to crawl into the still-warm bed of the lovers?” The result of that scribble is The Apartment, a film that, with its farcical but well-wrought premise and career-best performances from Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, never puts a foot wrong. (Rex)
18. Miracle on 34th Street (1994): Whether you consider this film a heart-warming gem or an insult to the 1947 original might depend on which version you grew up with – but it’s hard to argue with the performances of Richard Attenborough as Kris Kringle, and Mara Wilson as the precociously cynical Dorey. (20th Century Fox)
17. The Holiday (2006): Film trailer editor Amanda (Cameron Diaz) and wedding columnist Iris (Kate Winslet) exchange homes over Christmas in an attempt to escape their terrible love lives. This Nancy Meyers classic is as predictable as its fake movie trailers, but it’s warm and witty, with a strange but sweet subplot involving an Oscar-winning nonagenarian. (Universal Pictures)
16. Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010): A bizarre and macabre Santa Claus origin story, this Finnish fantasy horror follows a group of Lapland natives who stumble upon the secret of Father Christmas. To say that he’s not the cuddly, benevolent gift-giver we know and love would be an understatement. To say any more would be to spoil the twisted fun. (Kinology)
15. Happy Christmas (2014): This low-budget, entirely improvised film from “mumblecore” actor-director Joe Swanberg is an understated and underrated gem. Anna Kendrick is typically charismatic as an irresponsible twenty-something who crashes, uninvited, back into the life of her older brother Jeff (Swanberg), but the film’s secret weapon is a brilliantly nuanced performance from Melanie Lynskey (Magnolia Pictures)
14. White Christmas (1954): Featuring a reimagined version of the title song, which Bing Crosby introduced in Holiday Inn over a decade earlier, White Christmas was intended to reunite Crosby with Fred Astaire for their third Irving Berlin showcase musical. Astaire declined the project, and eventually Danny Kaye starred instead, as an aspiring entertainer alongside Crosby. The resulting film was a box office smash and a subsequent classic. Astaire missed out. (Rex)
13. Die Hard (1988): Whatever side you’re on in the infernal debate over whether it’s actually a Christmas movie (Bruce Willis thinks not), it's hard to deny that Die Hard is a perfect action movie. That it takes place on Christmas Eve, and features lines like, “Now I have a machine gun, ho-ho-ho”, makes it ideal holiday viewing too – particularly if you’re a little sick of festive slush. (Moviestore/Rex)
12. The Bishop’s Wife (1947): Based on Robert Nathan’s 1928 novel, The Bishop’s Wife stars Cary Grant as perhaps the most charming angel to ever grace the silver screen. Taking on human form in order to help a struggling bishop (David Niven) and his fractured marriage, Grant’s Dudley accidentally falls in love with the eponymous Julia (Loretta Young). He’s an angel, though, not a homewrecker, and all is well come Christmas Eve. (Rex)
11. A Christmas Carol (1999): There have been about a hundred screen adaptations of Charles Dickens’s iconic novella, which sees a penny-pinching miser change his ways after encountering the ghosts of his Christmas past, present and future. Though this made-for-television film is far from the most famous reimagining, it is one of the best – thanks in no small part to perfectly pitched performances from Patrick Stewart and Richard E Grant. (RHI Entertainment)
10. Meet Me in St. Louis (1944): Sick of playing juvenile roles, Judy Garland nearly turned down her role as the lovesick Esther Smith in this musical comedy. When she finally agreed to do it, the production was marred by her erratic behaviour – she would regularly turn up to set hours late, or not turn up at all. “It was some years later before I really knew what she’d been going through,” her co-star Mary Astor later said, alluding to Garland’s struggles with mental health issues and addiction – but you’d never know any of that watching this warm, charming film. It’s also responsible for one of the best Christmas songs ever made: “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. (Rex)
Haringey Council also runs a similar initiative in its parks, with the aim of "cutting carbon emissions".
To find out where you can recycle your Christmas tree, enter your postcode on Recycle Now's recycling locator here.
Your local council may even allow you to leave your Christmas tree with your allocated garden waste bin.
Turn your tree into a wildlife habitat
If you have the correct tools to chop up your Christmas tree yourself, you can then use the remains to create a habitat for the wildlife in your garden, Wyevale Garden Centres explains.
"Chop up the trunk and branches of your Christmas tree and leave in a pile in the corner of your garden to create shelter for wildlife," the garden centre chain advises.
"Eventually, the wood will rot down and create compost to be reused on your plants."
Wyevale Garden Centres also suggests leaning a part of the tree against your garden fence and placing bird treats along it for feathered visitors to enjoy.
Replant it
You don't necessarily have to say goodbye to your Christmas tree just because the festive season is over.
According to gardening services company Fantastic Gardeners, Christmas trees can be replanted if the correct measures are taken.
A Christmas tree that's going to be replanted shouldn't be kept indoors for longer than 10 days.
"If you have enough space in your garden, choose a spot for the Christmas tree which is not exposed to strong winds but open to sunlight," Fantastic Gardeners recommends.
"As to the soil - it is ideal that you have loose, non-clay soil to allow for proper drainage."
The planting hole for the tree in your garden should be twice as large as the tree's root ball.
For more information on how to replant your Christmas tree, click here.
One Greenpeace supporter explained to the environmental organisation how her parents successfully replanted their Christmas tree.
"My parents stuck theirs in a pot of soil last year as an experiment and because they enjoy watching the birds playing in it," she wrote on Facebook in 2017.
"However, it somehow managed to root itself and start growing again.
"They used it again this year and plan on continuing the tradition for as long as possible."
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