Gardening: Reduce your carbon footprint by recycling Christmas trees, decorations
Author: Mike Hogan
Before you begin the task of removing your holiday decorations, think about the environmental impact of the holiday season and look for ways to minimize this impact when disposing of your holiday decorations. From disposing of your live Christmas tree and holiday plants to tossing burned-out strings of lights, there are environmentally friendly options for disposal or reuse of nearly all holiday decorations, including the mountains of gift wrap paper and cardboard packaging which seems to pile up during the holidays. Most municipalities in central Ohio collect used Christmas trees with their regular yard waste and recycling pick-up. Trees are chipped and the mulch is provided to gardeners or used in parks and other municipal facilities. Trees taller than 6 feet should be cut in half and should not be placed in recycling s. Trees should not be in plastic bags and all decorations must be removed. Live plants such as poinsettia, Christmas cactus and amaryllis can be saved for blooming again next season—if you are willing to provide care for them for the next 11 months! After its flower drops, allow amaryllis plants to continue producing green leaves as this foliage will add energy reserves to the bulb for flowering next winter. Amaryllis plants will need several months in a cool, dark area in order to bloom again next December.