Oh, Christmas tree. Now that the holidays are over, that once-festive tree is shedding pine needles all over the place, and it’s time to get that thing out of your home. Why not do the environmentally friendly thing and recycle it?
Luckily, there are many options for this, including plenty of places to drop off that conifer. You can even feed it to goats! Just make sure you take all the lights and decorations off first.
Not sure what to do with your Christmas tree? Bennett Compost has you covered! Help make the holidays a little greener this year by composting your Christmas Tree and other living decorations! For $20, Bennett will pick up your tree, keeping it out of landfills, and recycling it into compost for the garden. Pickup is available on the following dates: Dec. 28–29, 2024, Jan. 4–5, 11–12, and 18–19, 2025
For a suggested donation of $20 your Christmas tree helps to benefit Philly Goat Project in so many ways. Your tree will be eaten by the goats and/or turned into woodchips that help line the trails around Awbury Arboretum, the goats’ paddocks, or in parks around the city. Your donation will go towards the Philly Goat Project’s mission of using “Goats for the Greater Good” and providing free programming to our community. Beyond the Christmas tree drop, activities during the the tree-cycle festivals will include exploring the farm, a roaring fire pit with s’mores and hot cocoa, and a petting area with the goats. You can join the fun even if you don’t have a tree! A “Quiet Visiting Area” will also be available for special friends. This year’s tree-cycle festival dates and locations are below:
January 4th (Rain date: January 5th) and January 11th (Rain date: January 12th) 12-3 PM – The Farm at Awbury Arboretum
January 18th (Rain date: January 19th) 12-3 PM – The Conservatory at Laurel Hill West
January 11th 9 AM-3 PM
Columbus Square Park, 13th and Reed Streets
Turn your Christmas trees into mulch for our local parks at this annual tree-cycling event. This location asks for a $5 donation (
PayPal and Venmo available, @passyunksquare) per tree to offset the cost of chipping them into mulch. A few tree pickup slots are available!
If you live within Circle Compost’s service area (much of the city is included), you can sign up online for $20 curbside pickup. Circle Compost will bring your tree to one of their nonprofit farm partner locations, and grind it up into wood chips. The chips will be used by the farms as mulch and also in the composting process. Pickup is available the weekends of January 4-5, January 11-12, and 18-19.
Liberty Lands, 919 3rd Street
Please only bring “naked” trees to this drop-off at the southwest corner of Liberty Lands Park behind Kaplan’s Bakery from December 26 through January 15. This treecyling will create woodchips for use at Orianna Hill and Liberty Lands.
South Philly Holiday Tree Recycling
South Philly Green, East Point Breeze Neighbors, and Bartlett Tree Experts are hosting two tree recycling events in South Philly this year. Any donations will benefit South Philly Green to plant more trees and $1/tree will be donated to Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. They are also offering curbside tree pickups for anyone within EPBN boundaries. Event dates and locations are below:
Dates TBD
You can drop your tree off for free at one of the Streets Department’s Centers or neighborhood drop-off sites. Find your closest drop-off location on the City of Philadelphia’s
website.
January 6-18
Lead photograph courtesy of Philly Goat Project, by Love Me Do Photography.
Laura Swartz contributed to the original version of the article and Eleanor Linafelt contributed to updating it. 
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