How To Get Rid Of Your Christmas Tree

Though Christmas was only a couple days ago, if you want to start planning what to do with that lovely tree, here are some options. Please note, you must remove all decorations from your tree before disposing of it at these events!

MulchFest Gowanus
When: Sunday, January 5, 11am-3pm
Where: The Salt Lot, 2 2nd Avenue at 5th Street
What: Organized by the Gowanus Canal Conservancy, Urban Arborists, and Arborpolitan to collect and recycle Christmas trees for use as feedstock for the Conservancy’s compost program. But it’s not just chipping — there will be baked goods and refreshments, and there’s a raffle to win a membership with the Conservancy and bags of nutrient-rich compost. They need volunteers to help collect trees and assist with other compost activities; for more info contact volunteer@gowanuscanalconservancy.org.

MulchFest Prospect Park
When: Saturday, January 11 and Sunday, January 12, 10am-2pm
Where: 3rd Street & Prospect Park West; and Park Circle entrance at Prospect Park Southwest & Parkside Avenues
What: Bring your holiday tree to Prospect Park, where they’ll turn it into mulch for healthy ground cover. Bring a bag, and you can take some mulch home for your own yard or garden. Volunteers are needed to help out as well.

Curbside Recycling
When: Monday, December 30 through Wednesday, January 15
What: If you can’t bring your tree to the above events, you can leave it at the curb during this time period, and the city will chip them into mulch that will be distributed to parks, playing fields, and community gardens throughout the city. Do not put trees in plastic bags. People are encouraged to put out their discarded trees at curbside as early as possible during the collection period.

Photo by Spencer Ritenour