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How to recycle your real Christmas tree

Many cities or towns in Maine allow you to dispose of Christmas trees in designated areas. Some farmers would appreciate them, too!

MAINE, Maine — The holidays are over, and now many Mainers are thinking about taking down their Christmas trees before it dries out.

If you put up a real tree and are wondering what to do with it now, there are some eco-friendly options:

  • Call your local town or city to see if they are collecting them
  • Call a local farm owner to see if they would like your tree

Many farms, like Heartfire Nubians farm in Plymouth, feed old Christmas trees to their goats and sheep. They love them, she says.

"They just work their way at it all day and eventually it will be completely bare. They will eat the bark, they will bring it down to ... it looks like a skeleton of a tree and it works really good!" says owner Kay Fuller.

Alternatively, many cities or towns allow you to drop trees off at their public works facilities.

Brewer's drop-off site is at Brewer Auditorium.

"We haul them out to our landfill and they are chipped down so they are used as log fuel," says David Cody, Brewer's director of public works.

Cody reminds Brewer residents they can also take their trees straight to the landfill on Elm Street for free from 7 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Tuesday and on the first and third Saturdays of the month.

Credit: NCM

In Bangor, residents can drop off their trees at the city's public works facility at 530 Maine Ave.

"All those trees will get chipped up [and] turned into either mulch or biomass," says Aaron Houtari, director of public works in Bangor.

During a special drop-off week from January 4-10, residents can bring cardboard boxes, wrapping paper, and Christmas trees to the public works facility.

"Wreaths can be dropped off but those will not be recycled," he says. "We can't recycle them due to the amount of metal in them."

From January 4-15, Bangor public works drivers will also pick up any trees they see outside houses, so, "Make sure you have your tree stripped," says Houtari.

Fire departments recommend you get rid of your tree sooner rather than later to avoid it becoming a fire hazard in your home. 

"Once they dry out, they become a huge fire hazard in your home and that's why we tell folks that once you are done with the celebrations, and you are done with the tree, it's a good idea to take it outside," says Jason Johnson, public information officer at the Bangor Fire Department.

Fire department officials say a good rule of thumb is to pay attention to when your real tree stops receiving water, as it will dry up and become a major hazard.

 "It's not taking water [and] the needles are falling off and turning brown? It's time to get it outside," says Erik Tourtillotte, deputy fire chief in Brewer.

"People are pretty good about knowing that they should keep their trees well watered up to this point ... then once we reach the holiday, people kind of sort of forget that the tree is still up," says Johnson. "The fires that we do see that are caused by those [and] tend to be a lot more dangerous in terms of fire fatalities and property damage."

"Any type of heaters, like a space heater of any kind that could be near a tree, anything that heats up, we should have at least three feet away to prevent that from catching fire," says Tourtillotte.

Christmas trees can be a healthy meal for goats and sheep, and many farmers who own sheep or goats will take them to feed their animals. Just make sure you give them your tree clean.

"No tinsel, no decorations. If you've sprayed them with anything that's probably not a good idea either. They don't eat just anything, they're actually very picky so no decorations please!" says Fuller.

A good rule when dropping off your tree at any landfill is to dispose of it cleaned, with no ornaments or decorations, no base, and not wrapped in plastic, so workers can easily ground it into mulch. 

If you live in Portland, Christmas trees can be dropped off at the following locations during the month of January: 

  • Cutter Street Parking Lot, Eastern Prom (upper lot on right, not sliding hill lot)
  • Payson Park, salt shed area by the little league area.

Trees dropped off at any of these locations will be taken to Riverside Recycling and chipped up.

 

   

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