FOX VALLEY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Christmas has come and gone, and eventually the tree will have to be gone too. But you don’t have to just toss it into the garbage can.
Millions of Christmas trees are sold in America every year, but throwing them in landfills, once they’ve outlived their usefulness, isn’t necessarily the best thing to do.
“It not only helps our farm animals, but it’s also teaching your kids to recycle, re-use the things, instead of just getting rid of it,” says Shana Beach, owner of Hatch’em Acre in Kaukauna.
There are several ways to recycle a Christmas tree.
At Hatch’em Acre, trees can be seen all around in pens, with animals putting them to good use.
“We bring them back to the animals and use them throughout the year, and give them to them for vitamins, nutrients, natural warmers and boredom breakers,” Beach explains, “When we’re done, we put them in our compost and the animals in the area, they use them.”
Aside from all of those benefits, Beach says they also make a great natural mint.
“It honestly does help!” Beach laughed. “Sheep and goats and stuff, they’re ruminants, so they have to regurgitate and chew their cud, and it does stink a little bit!”
Fir trees can have a big impact on local ecosystems.
They can also be good teaching tools.
“We use Christmas trees in January, February and March to teach winter survival skills to students,” said executive director of Heckrodt Wetland Reserve in Menasha Tracey Koenig.
The nature center needs several trees to teach the class each year.
“It helps the students to understand how to construct a shelter that will protect them, in the event that they needed an emergency shelter,” said Koenig.
But this season, the reserve got a late Christmas gift from a local tree lot…about a hundred of them.
“They have donated their excess trees to us in the past,” Koenig said. “This year though, they brought us a hundred trees!”
The trees aren’t there just yet, but Schroeder’s Forevergreens in Neenah said they’ll be making that delivery Saturday. When they do, Heckrodt Wetland Reserve will be filled with over a hundred Christmas trees.
“We don’t need any more trees, we’ve got plenty!” Koenig said. “Please don’t bring anymore!”
Fishing clubs also use Christmas trees for marking roads on Lake Winnebago for ice fishers.
And, in Appleton, taking your tree to the yard waste site will get you a coupon to use in the spring for a white spruce seedling, with the city’s annual Tree for a Tree program.
