Around 250 tonnes of real Christmas trees are thrown away in landfills every year.
It can be time-consuming to take trees to recycling centres, as well as a sad marker that the festivities are over. But you can give your tree new life!
Here's how:
Luckily, Children’s Hospice South West offers a tree collection service in some areas.
Homes in the PL23, and PL24 postcode areas can be visited by the hospice team of volunteers from January 10 to January 15.
Children's Hospice South West are working alongside Biffa to raise funds to help support local children, young people and their families with donations for the collections.
- £20 could help fund fun times in the hydrotherapy pool for families to make memories together.
- £30 could fund a music therapy session to help children to express their thoughts and feelings.
- £45 could fund a month of Christmas-themed messy play materials at one of our hospices.
- £100 could help provide a parent with an uninterrupted nights sleep.
These postcodes must book their collection by January 4. They can book a collection and find out more here.
If you are not in these postcodes you can take it to your local Household Waste and Recycling Centre for composting. If you have a garden waste subscription, then the tree can go in there.
Alternatively, Christmas trees can be used as firewood. The smaller branches and needles can be used as kindling.
The needles can also be turned into mulch and used as compost for the garden! To do this, you should add weeds, veg peelings and leafy debris and a sheltered, shady spot.
If you have the space, leaving your tree in a sheltered place in the garden means it will become a great place for wildlife - big and small. Bugs will be able to use the tree as a habitat and shelter, and if you unattached smaller branches and needles, birds will use them for nesting and insulation.