Tree Dumping: Some Start Early

For some people, yesterday’s Christmas tree is today’s bird house.

Call it tree dumping, call it returning nature’s bounty to the fold, or call it holiday fatigue – but some people can’t wait to show their Christmas tree the door on Dec. 26. Towns around Fairfield County have different policies to help those eager to rid their houses of the once verdant boughs.

For three tickets and a current sticker on the car, the Wilton Transfer station will take evergreens formally known as Christmas trees. Residents just must make sure their tree is ornament and tinsel free.

“Well, that's just common sense. We would like that,” said Mike Ahern of Wilton’s transfer station.

Most people leave trees up until just after New Year’s. Many wait until Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany, to neatly store Christmas tree lights into a box and to take down ornaments.

According to the National Christmas Tree Foundation, between 25 million and 30 million live trees are sold each year. Connecticut harvested 113,622 trees in 2007, the last year for which the foundation has data.

Yet even for those who are eager to usher in the New Year in a house free of ornaments and pine needles, there’s usually no real rush on tree dumping, said Ahern. “It’s not like they’ll be waiting in line,” he said.

If the garbage men won’t take trees, one can, of course, drag it to a corner of the backyard. It can serve as a birdhouse or squirrel perch. 

“Our tree,” Julie Min Chayet of Weston said. Yes, it's always a dilemma, especially because 1) my Jewish husband cuts it down from maple row, drags it into the house and 2) his Christian wife decorates it and 3) my Jewish husband then takes it out of the house, stares at it for a little while and then takes out his chain saw and cuts it up into pieces. Then we all drag the pieces into the woods.”

Some people clearly hope nature will turn the tree to pulp, because some transfer stations get summer drop-offs.

“We get trees up until July,” said Roger Parman of the New Canaan Transfer Station.”

Parman said residents should make sure the tree is stripped down and ready to go.

Of course, many local trash haulers will take trees for the first two weeks after Christmas. People can leave their trees curbside next to the dumpster. 

For those who think the once proud Tannenbaum will keep them warm during a winter night, think again. Evergreens contain a lot of flammable turpentine oils. Burning it in the fireplace can cause creosote buildup, which can lead to a chimney fire.

Whenever one decides it's time to drag the tree out of the house, one can ensure a mess-free clean up by placing a plastic tree bag underneath the tree before putting it up, Chayet said.

But there are other ways to keep the floor pine needle free. Some people prefer artificial trees.

“We have negotiated with the kids the past two years to buy an artificial tree, but they flat out refused to accept this as real,” Chayet said.

In Shelton, it’s the highway department, not the transfer station, that takes the trees. There, trees are put through the shredder and turned into mulch.

 Of course, some people, eager as they are for New Year’s celebrations, never deal with tree dumping.

“What’s the point of a new tree? It’s not like I’m a tree hugger or anything, but this way you can use it again next year,” said Edgardo of Ridgefield, who didn’t want his last name used, lest, as he jested: “Santa Claus walks by and hears me.”