Recycle Christmas Tree
Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:22:28 +0000
Sustainable Holiday Trees and Wood Burning
Being green doesn’t mean getting rid of the beloved traditions in our lives. It means making new traditions, and really thinking about how we can green those traditions. Basically you have three options for your holiday tree listed here in order of sustainability: 1) purchase a live tree to transplant outside, 2) employ a synthetic tree that can be reused, and 3) buy a cut tree that can be repurposed at your home. If like many you choose the later consider buying it from an organic tree farm and using the six methods below to put it to greatest use when ready to dispose.
1. Cut the branches off and lay them over perennials in your garden. This will provide protection from temperature fluctuations and prevent the plants from heaving out of the soil.
2. Once you’ve used all the branches, you’ll be left with a trunk. Don’t get rid of it! I’ve used the trunks from a few of our holiday trees to make teepees to grow beans on, rustic fences, and as supports for shade covers and floating row covers.
3. You can cut the branches up into smaller pieces and use them to mulch your beds or garden paths. Don’t think you need a big, gas-guzzling chipper for this! I use a pair of trusty bypass pruners, and snip a few branches into pieces each time I go out into the garden. It takes a little more time, but it’s free, easy, and doesn’t have any impact on the environment.
4. Provide a home for the birds. Once you’re done with it indoors, remove the decorations and place your tree, stand and all, out in the yard. Birds will find it and use it as shelter during the winter months. In spring, once the birds don’t need it anymore, either chip it up or lay it on its side in a part of your yard where it can serve as a brush pile for other backyard wildlife.
5. Cut the branches off and use them at the base of a fresh compost pile. It’s a good idea to have coarser materials, like tree branches, at the bottom of the pile because it helps increase air flow to the pile.
6. Once dry, use the cut branches as kindling for a wood burning stove.
Now that we are on the subject of wood burning, I’d like to share some insights with you that may save you a lot of money heating your home. The efficiency of wood heating is the ratio of the useful heat provided to the space, divided by the heat content of the wood being burned. The best woods have the highest heat content and low ash, such as live oak with about 35 million BTU’s per cord, eucalyptus at 33, and birch or walnut at 25. Other woods like pine, cedar, and white fir and willow typically have less than 20 MBTU per cord.
The other factor is the amount of the available heat that is useful, rather than lost up the chimney. Most fireplaces without doors or inserts actually have negative efficiencies, meaning they send more heat up the stack than that provided by the burning wood. While you may feel warm standing close to the hearth due to its radiant glow, you may actually be cooling your home overall, and/or increasing the burden on your heating system. The most efficient wood stoves have efficiencies exceeding 70% by drawing combustion air directly from outdoors and employing catalytic converters and heat recovery devices to increase the combustion and heat transfer efficiencies. While high efficiency wood stoves may cost thousands of dollars, the savings in wood costs can quickly offset the expense and substantially reduce particulate emissions if you frequently heat with wood.
Never burn unseasoned wood and avoid chemically treated or painted wood. Unseasoned wood will use much of its combustion heat to vaporize water and add to the creosote and otherwise damage the metal surfaces of the stove and flue. Any chemicals in or on the wood will be vaporized and released in your home and surroundings, often with toxic effects.
Finally, when enjoying the comfort of efficient wood heat, maintain the flame to comfortable levels by carefully moderating the amount of air you provide for combustion. Keep the stove doors closed except when lighting or loading, and open the interior room doors to let the heat warm all the living areas of your home.
The city is urging residents to recycle their Christmas trees in a program that mulches the trees and then provides the mulch to residents. Starting January 1 and ending January 17, trees will be accepted at neighborhood parks and other locations.
Mulch can be picked up from the city at the same locations starting January 8. There is no charge for either the recycling or the mulch.
On the North Side, the closest location for the program is Clark Park, 3400 N Rockwell St.
Other North Side locations are:
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Garfield Park; 100 N Central Park Ave.
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Humboldt Park; 1369 N Sacramento Ave.
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North Park Village; 5801 N Pulaski Rd.
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Lincoln Park; Parking Lot at Cannon Drive at Fullerton Ave. (entrance to Zoo)
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Warren Park; 6601 N Western Ave.
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Riis Park; 6100 W Fullerton Ave.
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Portage Park; 4100 N Long Ave.
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Kelvyn Park; 4438 N Wrightwood Ave.
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Norwood Park; 5801 N Natoma Ave.
