{"id":27492,"date":"2024-12-16T09:00:38","date_gmt":"2024-12-16T13:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/?p=27492"},"modified":"2025-06-03T14:53:45","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T18:53:45","slug":"tips-on-how-you-can-recycle-your-christmas-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/tips-on-how-you-can-recycle-your-christmas-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips on How You Can Recycle Your Christmas Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"People<\/a>

Photo by Larry Caplan.<\/p><\/div>\n

When do you need to discard your real Christmas tree? What options are there in disposing the tree?
\nCheck out these tips from our Purdue experts:<\/p>\n

Lenny Farlee<\/a>, Purdue Extension Forester with Forestry and Natural Resources, in interview with the WLFI news team shares the first steps is to remove all decorations. \u201cSeveral municipalities here in the area will either take the trees for mulching or composting. So if you don\u2019t want to fool with the tree anymore, that\u2019s a great option. You can just take it to the curb, or certain locations, and they\u2019ll take care of it for you and it gets reused or recycled into usable material,\u201d explains Farlee.\u00a0 Choosing to keep the tree in your backyard is a great wildlife friendly option. Lenny shares how important it is to remove your tree in a timely manner to avoid any fire hazards in your house. The video explains on how you can test your tree to see if it should be discarded. See video and full article for more options: Options for Getting Rid of Real Christmas Tree<\/a>, wlfi.com.<\/p>\n

John Woodmansee<\/a>, Purdue Extension Educator-Agriculture Natural Resources (ANR), also shares tips in the Purdue Extension article Recycle Your Christmas Tree<\/a>. If you have permission and\/or have access to a private pond you can discard your tree in the pond to improve fish habitat.<\/p>\n

Resources:
\n<\/strong>A Choose-and-Cut Pine and Fir Christmas Tree Case Study<\/a>, <\/strong>The Education Store, Purdue Extension\u2019s resource center
\nLiving Christmas Trees For The Holidays and Beyond<\/a>, The Education Store
\nTips for First-Time Buyers of Real Christmas Trees<\/a>, The Education Store
\nGrowing Christmas Trees<\/a>, The Education Store
\nSelecting an Indiana-Grown Christmas Tree<\/a>, The Education Store
\nRepurposing Your Real Christmas Tree<\/a>, Purdue Extension News
\nAn Introduction to Trees of Indiana<\/a>, The Education Store
\nNative Trees of the Midwest<\/a>, The Education Store
\nShrubs and Woody Vines of Indiana and the Midwest<\/a>, The Education Store
\nID That Tree<\/a>, Playlist, Subscribe to Purdue Extension \u2013 Forestry and Natural Resources YouTube Channel
\nA Woodland Management Moment<\/a>, Playlist, Purdue Extension \u2013 FNR YouTube Channel
\nInvesting in Indiana Woodlands<\/a>, The Education Store
\nForest Improvement Handbook<\/a>, The Education Store
\nFinding help from a professional forester<\/a>, Indiana Forestry & Woodland Owners Association
\nDistrict Foresters<\/a>\u00a0for 10 plus acres, Indiana Department of Natural Resources
\nSustainable Biomaterials<\/a>, FNR Concentration<\/p>\n

Diana Evans<\/a>, Extension & Web Communications Specialist
\nPurdue University Department of Forestry and Natural Resources<\/p>\n

Lenny Farlee<\/a>, Extension Forester
\nHardwood Tree Improvement and Regeneration Center<\/a>
\nPurdue Department of Forestry & Natural Resources<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When do you need to discard your real Christmas tree? What options are there in disposing the tree? Check out these tips from our Purdue experts: Lenny Farlee, Purdue Extension Forester with Forestry and Natural Resources, in interview with the WLFI news team shares the first steps is to remove all decorations. \u201cSeveral municipalities here […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1425,40,42,80,45,54],"tags":[58,1902,1901,494,838,1903],"class_list":["post-27492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ask-the-expert","category-christmastrees","category-forestry","category-trees","category-howto","category-wildlife","tag-christmas-trees","tag-discard","tag-dispose","tag-landowner","tag-pond","tag-purdue-extension-expert","audience-for-enthusiasts","audience-for-homeowners","audience-for-landowners","audience-for-professionals"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-14 21:08:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27492"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35852,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27492\/revisions\/35852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.purdue.edu\/fnr\/extension\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}