Christmas Tree disposal - game changer!

[GehenBier]

Somewhere, somewhen on MN I read a top tip about getting rid of a real Christmas tree. Today was the day and I convinced DH and DC that this top tip was worth trying. I reassured them it was neither from Viz nor from Take a Break and once we decided it was a "life hack" we were on. I don't remember who I should credit with this but listen up: cover the tree with a double duvet cover before removing from stand, and shroud said tree until place of disposal. Minimum vacuuming and car is reasonably needle free (given that some already were shed on the way in pre Christmas). Absolute revelation!

Yes! So pleased someone else has reported back. I also read that and decided to give it a go. My double duvet cover had a stupidly narrow opening though and my tree was quite wide. After some wrestling I decided a rethink was required.

I spread the cover on the floor, lifted the tree out of the stand and tipped it onto the cover. Then did it up tightly like a burrito and knotted the corners. And off to the tip! Almost no needles.

It's the Xmas Tree Burrito for me from now on!

We're very lucky that our council collect ours from the front of the house. We put ours out yesterday and it was gone by this morning!

Mind you, we still had the needles all over the floor from taking it out of the house, so maybe the duvet cover would be worth it next year.

We're on the first floor with a Juliet balcony so we just moved the car from under the window and chucked the tree over the rail to earth.

Granted this method will not work for all designs of home.

We pay a local charity to come and collect it and they chip them and then sell the chippings too.

We've chopped ours up and it's gone in the garden waste bin.

The best way to avoid needles either in the car or in the house is to have a living Christmas tree. We planted one outside adjacent to the corner of the lounge. When Christmas arrives we extend the lounge outwards by about two square metres so that the lounge then encapsulates the tree.

Tomorrow we are knocking the extension down thus bringing the wall closer in by two metres. By storing the bricks, joists and additional roof tiles in the garage until this time next year we have no dropped needles and save on Christmas tree costs every year.

We take ours to the local goat laydee (true story) for the critters to jump on and destroy/eat.

The duvet cover burrito/needle drop preventer hack sounds a super idea, I'm all for lazing up a task. Thumbs up.

OP you'll have to promise to revive this at Twixmas 2024 to remind us, pls!

You can drop them at the local zoo here - apparently the animals love them

I think the people who used to live next door about 50 years ago favoured the living tree idea. Fine until it's too big to bring indoors. The 'Christmas' tree is now forty feet high and casts deep shade on half of our garden all summer. 🙁

I had ours collected by the local city Farm a couple of years ago for the goats to eat. They don't seem to be doing it this year 😢 I'll try the duvet cover method instead. Thanks for the tip

Surely you would have pine needles in your duvet cover though? I'd rather sweep them up than be poked six months later in the night ...

In many areas you can pay a small sum to "Just helping" to dispose of your tree, the money goes to local charities. You have to register your tree. just-helping.org.uk/

I'm not convinced that this is that great - I now have a duvet cover full of pine needles to empty and wash
Instead I will just drag the tree out and use Henry to vacuum up the bits

We get Fraser Firs and they don’t lose their needles. Even after 2 weeks in a room with a wood burner, you can take them out without leaving a trail of needles.

I used an old cover I keep as a dust sheet for dirty jobs and decorating.

We had a nordman fir and it didn’t drop any needles. Outside waiting for refuse collection/shredding.

Snort

If you're in one of their areas, Sue Ryder, the palliative care and bereavement charity also recycle your Christmas trees:

https://www.sueryder.org/support-us/fundraise/events/christmas-treecycling-2023

HRTFT

There was an item on TV yesterday, news or country life programme. Xmas trees are being nailed into place along the river bank to prevent the water washing the banks away.

I don't think I dreamed this.

I hadn't heard the duvet idea but decided to use two wheelie bin liner sacks - they're enormous! The idea is to 'hood' the tree from the top, then lie it on its side and 'hood' the bottom end, meeting the midway mark with a decent enough overlap to prevent needles escaping.

I might also tape it for the car journey to the tip!

I like the dropped needles ( tiny house - literally 5 metres from stand to patio) . I dustpan the worst and hoover the rest. I like the smell of pine in the hoover until it gets emptied.

Ours don't seem to drop many needles. It only needs a quick sweep and vacuum.

You can type in your postcode here at Just-Helping to see if you can register for collection in return for a charity donation.

If you have an open fire or wood burner - don't get rid of your tree! Let it dry in garage or shed then chop/saw for aromatic kindling. Makes no sense to dump it then buy wood from the garden centre on the way home (as DP suggested)

The best way to avoid needles either in the car or in the house is to have a living Christmas tree. We planted one outside adjacent to the corner of the lounge. When Christmas arrives we extend the lounge outwards by about two square metres so that the lounge then encapsulates the tree.

Tomorrow we are knocking the extension down thus bringing the wall closer in by two metres. By storing the bricks, joists and additional roof tiles in the garage until this time next year we have no dropped needles and save on Christmas tree costs every year.
Thanks for this top tip! I will try it next year!

It was a spare duvet cover so I have time to work out how to get rid of the needles!

I realise I am but an amateur in this game.

About 8 years ago we stopped getting trees in car from garden centre and started ordering online from local farm plus paying for recycling service, Always been a smooth process. We install it into the stand we bought from them years ago, we put it out front on the evening before the collection date. When I come back from work, it’s gone. Although, the difficult bit is the short journey from bay window via hall to front door. The duvet hack might be worth considering for that 👍🏼. But … DH would insist it was a duvet cover we never used for bedding 😂