Recycle your Christmas Tree

Christmas has passed, the decorations are packed away, and the tree is bare.  Do you put your tree out by the curb for recycling, toss it in the woods, or take to a drop-off point, or does it get picked up by the trash collector and wind up decaying in the landfill?  The latter is of no benefit to anyone, and the tree is wasted.  Let's all put our trees to good use.  Recycled, they become mulch to beautify the landscape and enrich the soil.  Even those who recycle their trees in the woods are benefiting the environment by returning the tree to nature, and even creating a winter sanctuary for birds and animals.

The cats especially enjoy having a live tree of their very own (or so they think anyway).  Sophie and Dood like drinking the water from the stand.  I'd rather they didn't, but it hasn't seemed to do them any harm, and it's not like they don't have fresh water in their bowl every day.  I guess it's the Eau du Frasier Fir that's so appealing.

So now it is January 6th, the day of the Epiphany, and the day many people take down their Christmas trees and decorations.  The date varies for me, depending on how our tree is holding up.  This one is great, still takes up water and smells nice.  We had a tree one year that was so great we kept it up (lights only) until mid-January - I just couldn't throw it out.  They're not all like that, and some shed so bad that right after Christmas you want to get them out of the house. 

Anyway, I took all the ornaments off this morning, and all that remains are the lights.  It is still beautiful, but I need to let it go.  I'll be vacuuming up needles for weeks to come.  The cats carry them all over the house since they like to sleep under the tree.

So when do you take down your tree?  Are you motivated to get your house back to normal, or do you carry out the tradition of the 12 Days of Christmas, culminating in the Epiphany?  Whenever, I hope you remember to recycle.  It's good for all of us.