I love the smell of pine as much as the next person, but I must say that I have been feeling a bit guilty bringing home that traditional Christmas tree.  You stick it in a stand and fill it with water and hope that the needles don't fall off before Christmas eve.  But, it makes me sad to see all of the dead trees at the end of the driveways along the street, knowing that they are just going to landfills.

Americans throw away more than 30 million Christmas trees every year!  That is just a crazy number!

There are several options to put your tree to good use:

1. Grind it for mulch
2. Contact your local sanitation or environmental department for recycling options
3. Visit Earth911.org and find out where you can recycle your tree

This year, I decided to go back to my childhood roots and do what our family did every year...buy a tree still with the roots and dirt.  Then, after Christmas, we would plant it in our backyard.  They were planted in a row along the back fence and years later became these huge pines!  This year we bought a 2 foot tall tree still in the dirt.  But since we are renters (for now), we don't have a yard to plant it.  I am now on the hunt for a good home for our tree.  Please let me know if know of someone we can give this little tree to.