Christmas is over and it’s time to pack up the ornaments, take down the garland, and throw away the Christmas tree. But how?
According to the state’s Department of Environmental Protection, “Christmas trees are too good for the trash.”
If you’re looking for a quick, easy, and responsible fix to trashing your tree, you can leave it out on the curb with your recycling. Or, if you’re looking to upcycle your tree, you can feed it to goats.
Many farms across the state are once again inviting people to drop off their Christmas trees for goats and other animals to eat — a Massachusetts tradition that certainly beats adding old pine trees to the landfill.
As long as your tree is still alive and free of pesticides, sprays, fake snow-coating, or fire retardants, it should be eligible food for most local farms, like Channell Homestead in Hanson.
“Please ask the tree farm or store that you purchase your tree from to make sure that it is safe to give to the goats if you plan on donating it here when you’re done with it,” the farm’s operators said on social media.
Christine Channell, owner of Channell Homestead, said the trees provide a good deal of Vitamin C to the animals and act as a natural dewormer.
“Once they eat all of the needles and some of the bark, we then wood chip the rest so nothing goes to waste and use it on our property for the footing on the ground,” she said. “It’s a great way to recycle and give back to the community.”
People who are looking to donate their trees to Channell Homestead can drop them off at 92 South St., in the metal fenced-in area to the right of the white house and farm stand.
If you’re looking for an easier way to responsibly dispose of your tree, dead or alive, town and city recycling teams will collect trees alongside recycling on the curb for the first two weeks of January.
In Boston, residents can leave their Christmas trees on their curb for pick-up from Jan. 1 to Jan. 12, and the trees must be outside by 6 a.m. on the first recycling pick-up day of the week, according to the city’s website. The trees must be stripped of any lights, ornaments, tinsel, or other decorations in order to be picked up.
That way, the trees can be sustainably shredded for compost and mulch rather than added to the landfill.
“Every year, Bay Staters buy one million cut Christmas trees,” according to the state’s Christmas tree fact sheet. “Simply throwing them away would not only be a waste of reusable resources, but a disposal problem.”
Residents can use the state’s website to see when their local recycling teams will be retrieving recycling and Christmas trees in January.
Maggie Scales can be reached at maggie.scales@globe.com. Follow her @scales_maggie.
Read More: How to get rid of your Christmas tree via recycling pickup