Four Ways to Upcycle Your Christmas Tree
I come from a home run by an overly organized matriarch, so our Christmas tree came down on Boxing Day.
No longer able to stand the sight of its plastic and rubber pine needles, we dismantled the faux fir piece by piece, threw it in an old box, and taped it shut until next year.
Here are four practical suggestions to help you to dispose of your unwanted fir. Considering you probably left home after the holidays without dealing with it, be nice for once and send this to your parents if you don’t have a tree in your own place.
1. Contribute to an animal shelter
The Hope for Wildlife Society, run by Hope Swinimer, suggests animal-friendly alternatives.
Not only does Swinimer take tree donations for her animal sanctuary in Nova Scotia, she encourages everyone to find a local shelter that could use the trees to help improve the animals’ habitats. In an interview with CBC in 2011 she added that trees should be “totally clean because tinsel [could] seriously hurt an animal if they ate it.”
2. Make pine needle syrup
Another great use for a chemical-free tree is this do-it-yourself product, an awesome natural remedy for colds and coughs. You need two cups of water, two cups of sugar, two cups of chopped pine needles and one tablespoon of lemon juice.
Boil the sugar in water until fully dissolved, then turn off the stove and stir in the pine needles. Cover the pot and let it sit overnight. The longer you leave the needles in the water, the more intense the flavour will be. Strain and add lemon juice—then keep refrigerated for up to a month.
3. Make coasters
So this is where it gets a little messy, but the handy Pinterest addicts of the world will rejoice. Lay down and secure your tree, then saw off thin discs of wood from the trunk, sand them down and place a final coat of varnish to make them ultra smooth. Congrats, you just upped your Canadian cred.
4. Leave it to the city
If you leave it out on the curb, city workers will pick up your pine and bring it to a disposal facility where the wood will be chipped and made into fertilizing mulch. According to the City of Montreal website, 2016 Christmas tree collection will be offered on the weeks of Jan. 11, Jan. 25 and Feb. 8—you can check the website for the pick up date in your borough.
One thing not to do is use the tree as firewood. Burning pine can create a buildup of creosote inside your chimney, which can result in a raging fire that could cause damage to your home.
The ideal solution to the annual Christmas tree problem is not to have one at all. Not only will you avoid the hassle of getting rid of your tree after the holidays, you will minimize your carbon footprint by declining to strip our forests.
Artificial trees are no better. According to environmental research team Ellipsos, fake firs have three times more of an impact on climate change than real ones.
Next year, consider hanging your ornaments on a fallen Christmas branch, found pretty much anywhere, and light a pine-scented candle. The holidays don’t have to be harmful to the environment, and this starts with your tree.
