If you featured a live tree in your home this holiday season, don’t sell your tree’s life short by leaving it out on the curb for trash pickup. Yes, the holidays have passed and it may be time to change your home decor once again, but that doesn’t have to be the end of life for your Christmas tree. Live trees are 100% recyclable. Here are some great ways to recycle your tree:

1. Redecorate it as a Bird Feeder- This is a great project for kids and grown-ups alike. Find a place outside where you can leave your tree this winter, ideally within sight from a household window. Relocate your tree and decorate it with food for the birds. Dry fruit, grains, and seeds make excellent bird food. Make your own edible ornaments by decorating pinecones with peanut butter and bird seed. Use biodegradable twine or cotton yarn to hang the pinecones on the tree. Redecorate as needed through the winter and enjoy the sights and sounds of those who visit.
2. Sink it in a Private Fish Pond- Christmas trees make great fish habitat. Sink your tree by attaching it to a concrete block near a bank. Recycled trees can provide fish habitat for 5-7 years before being replaced.
3. Chip It- Raw wood chips are useful as ground cover, weed control, animal bedding, and composting. Some communities offer tree collection events and then donate the chips for community service projects.

Reduce, reuse, recycle! Why not start the year off with a resolution to recycle? For addition information about recycling and how you can get involved click here to visit the National Christmas Tree Association‘s manual on Community Recycling Programs.