This year, many Christmas tree farms experienced an increase in demand for real trees. Which had at one point led to a shortage.
In previous years, people could put their tree out to the curb for pickup after the season was over. This year, the City of London announced that they will not be picking up Christmas trees right after the holiday season. But have not fear as there are ways that one can deal with this.
Rick Vandersluis is the Vice President of Business Development at TRY Recycling and he highlighted how even though the city is not picking up the trees right after Christmas that that does not mean that they will not get picked up ever.
He said that people can take their tree over to the city depot, hold on to it until the yard material collection begins again in the spring and put it out then, or bring it to TRY Recycling. Whichever way one chooses, the tree will end up at TRY Recycling where it will be composted and used by gardens across Ontario.
But there is also another alternative. You could reuse or repurpose your tree. Some have used the needles as mulch, cut portions of the wood to make coasters, or used the tree for arts and crafts projects like making a bird house.
At Vandersluis’ house, he said “we actually bring it outside after Christmas and we set it up on our patio and put the lights on it and use it that way.” He highlighted that he keeps it in the stand and the needles stay on the tree until the spring.
For many, real trees are simply a part of their tradition. And some argue that having a real tree is better than a fake one.
“When you grow a real tree, all those years that the tree is growing it’s helping the environment. Yes, it has a shelf life, but the tree farmers keep replanting those trees. So, they’re always renewing them. It’s a renewable resource. And when they are all done, the majority of those trees will be composted and produced into another product,” he said.
So, at the end of the holiday season, you can dispose of your tree, hold on to it, or reuse it.
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