This is how you can recycle it

He brought us so much joy during Advent, gave us some praise and took good care of the gifts – the Christmas tree. But at some point his time ran out. Either throw it away or reuse it in another way.

Traditionally, the Christmas tree stands in the country rooms until January 6, Epiphany. By then it will be time to say goodbye to Christmas and the tree. but how?

Many communities offer free Christmas tree disposal in January. Until a few years ago, in Zurich you could still dispose of your Christmas tree along with organic waste. But now Zurich's disposal and recycling organization (ERZ) is warning against this because “the trees were partially chemically treated and often contained residues of artificial wax and decorations,” ERZ's deputy media spokesman, Daniel Eberhard, told the newspaper. Zurich Tagblat to explain. Since then, the fir trees have been disposed of with ordinary household waste.

In Bern, for example, green waste is still being disposed of. It's best to find out from your community if, when, and exactly how you can dispose of your Christmas tree.

However, it is not necessary to get rid of your Christmas tree forever – you can simply continue to use it for other purposes. Here are some ideas:

Use in the garden

If you have beds in your garden, you can protect them from the wind and cold with Christmas tree branches during the winter. Finely cut branches can also be used in flower boxes. At the same time, the fir branches serve as protection against snails, as animals are afraid to crawl on them and thus turn around again.

You can also use tree branches to create a shelter for animals: To do this, simply place a few branches in a corner of the garden. Birds can hide in this pile if there is danger. It is an ideal hiding place for hedgehogs or insects to spend the winter.

It's important that you only use this tip in your own garden – not in the woods. It is generally prohibited to dispose of entire spruce trees or their remains in the forest.

Use for heating

You can use spruce wood to heat your wood stove. To do this, you have to dry it well (for at least a year), otherwise the caloric value of the wood is very low. In this case, a lot of smoke and fine dust is formed, which should be avoided. You can use a measuring device from a hardware store to check whether the required maximum moisture content of 25 percent has been reached – only then can you burn the wood.

You can use spruce wood for the coming cold winter.Image: Shutterstock

Enjoy a cool bath made with pine needles

Cold season isn't over yet – if you've got it too, try a pine needle bath to get rid of the cold. Fir and fir contain essential oils that have a relaxing and expectorant effect.

For a full bath, you need about 100 grams of pine, pine or fir needles, which you boil in water for at least ten minutes. You can then pour the finished mixture into the bath water through a sieve.

Make healthy needle tea

If pine needles are supposed to be so healthy, why not make them into tea? You will need a teaspoon of chopped needles to add to a cup of hot water. It is best to let the tea steep for about ten minutes.

Attention: For this type of tea, please only use needles that come from a tree that has not been sprayed! In fact, only trees with the organic seal are taken into account.

Get creative and sculpt

Wood from coniferous trees such as spruce and spruce is ideal for crafting and carving because it is relatively soft. Now get ready for Christmas 2024 and make your own Christmas tree decorations. To do this, you can cut segments from the trunk, paint them, and drill a hole in them to tie them with string.

Homemade Christmas decorations are also suitable as gifts.Image: Shutterstock

Other than that, you can of course unleash your creativity – you can certainly carve a lot of wood if you have the talent for it.