Experts gave advice on how to dispose of live Christmas trees
After the New Year holidays, the question arises about what to do with a Christmas tree. Experts from Lemana PRO, a chain of products for construction and home improvement, told Izvestia on January 8 how to properly dispose of a tree and where it can be delivered.
After the New Year, hundreds of thousands of felled fir trees end up in landfills - that's almost 3 thousand tons of potential waste. Cut down trees are not classified as solid municipal waste and can cause containers to overflow, making it difficult to collect, load and transport waste. However, if a Christmas tree is disposed of properly, not only will it not harm nature, but it will also benefit the environment by serving as a secondary raw material.
Experts recommend several ways to responsibly dispose of Christmas trees. For example, you can take the tree to special collection points for recycling. In large cities there are temporary points of reception of Christmas trees within the framework of the project "Christmas tree cycle". For the convenience of citizens, a map of collection points in Moscow is available on the project website. New Year trees acceptance points are also available on the Moscow government's open data portal. In St. Petersburg there are both temporary reception points and ecotaxis for collecting Christmas trees.
"Local authorities and volunteer organizations across Russia also hold campaigns to collect Christmas trees, setting up points near shopping centers and hypermarkets. It is important to clarify the addresses of collection points after the holidays, as they may change. After collection, the trees are processed, where they are chopped into wood chips. The resulting raw materials are used in urban landscaping, agriculture, production. It is used to make mulch, bedding for flowerbeds and paths in city parks, bedding for animals on farms and in zoos, pressed fuel briquettes, natural essential oils," the company explained.
In addition, it is possible to chop wood yourself with tools and use it in homesteading, experts believe. For example, mulch and lapnik can be used to build winter shelters for perennial plants, such as roses. Conifer chips increase the pH-acidity of the soil, so they are well suited for fertilizing acid-loving crops and berries such as strawberries, blueberries and eggplants. If a neutral acid-alkaline background is desired, some gardeners recommend diluting the needles with dolomite flour or ash; the mixture can then be used for a variety of garden crops.
Another option is to take the sawed tree to the forest. There it will decompose naturally, becoming part of the forest floor and contributing to the formation of a natural ecosystem. The main rule - without tinsel and Christmas decorations, added the retail chain.
"If you live outside the city, plant a live fir tree to decorate it every year for the holiday. So you will save trees and save yourself the hassle of disposal," - emphasized the experts.
Earlier, December 19, it was reported that this year the leaders in the number of purchases in the pre-New Year season were artificial fir trees - from cast to LED. They accounted for 56% of the total number of such goods in the checks, and natural, both cut down and in pots, - 44%, follows from the data of the bank "Russian Standard". A year earlier, on the contrary, natural trees were in the lead with a noticeable gap. They accounted for 65% of purchases.
