Real Christmas trees can take roughly 30 years to decompose in a landfill. There are a few ways to repurpose the firs and pines that once stood tall with shiny lights.
Claws 'N' Paws Wild Animal Park in Wayne County collects trees for recycling and uses them to provide a little extra amusement for the animals when visitors aren’t around.
Zookeeper Jackie Thorpe says out of all the animals, the lions probably like them the best.
“They love to roll on it, sometimes they like to mark it, but mostly they love the different smells," she said. "That’s a thing that cats like, is the different smells of the trees, the different kinds of trees, the different houses they come from, they all smell different.”
The trees provide enrichment and encourage behaviors that animals would exhibit in the wild.
“What we like to do with the patas monkeys in particular is we’ll hide treats in there for them, and it encourages foraging behavior," Thorpe said. "In the wild that’s how they would search for food is foraging, on the ground, they’re ground monkeys. So we like to hide the treats in the tree for them to give them that behavior that they would do in the wild.”
Trees are collected here through the winter and disposed of before the zoo opens in May.
At the Carbon County Environmental Center, Chief Naturalist Susan Gallagher says their main goal is to keep them out of landfills.
“Natural trees can take up space in landfills, and under those conditions, those anaerobic conditions, they also take a long time to decompose.”
Here, they give trees to their wildlife, and use a pile of them to create a home for little creatures.
“The trees can be used to create wildlife habitat here, even after they’ve been cut down in the tree fields, we can create hedgerows for them which are great for small birds, mammals, even things like rabbits and snakes," she said. "Most of the wild animals here in Pennsylvania don’t hibernate, and there are a lot of birds that don’t migrate, or some that even do migrate to our area for winter. And so for them to be able to have shelter, for them to be able to have shelter from the elements, a place to hide from predators, those are important things.
The center also chips some of the trees to use as mulch on their trails and gives the rest away for free.
The Lackawanna County Recycling Center collects trees for a $10 fee, up to 140 lbs. Some areas offer pick-up services. Check with your municipality to see if they will pick up your tree.
