The Sad Side of the Holidays

Today I was driving down a main road in my small city, and there they all were, waiting for the recycling truck. The sad little Christmas trees, tossed by the side of the load looking lonely and unloved. This sight always makes me so sad. Those poor little trees, they never got to grow up and mature. Cut down in their prime, used by man to decorate for a holiday for a few weeks or even days, and then tosses aside to end up in a landfill or the chipper. I don't know, but every year when I see these little trees, I wonder if I'm the only one that thinks they are "pining for the fjords" (pun intended) or feeling betrayed by us mean humans that only use them and then toss them aside. OK, I tend to anthropromorphasize plants and animals anyhow, but still, doesn't it seem a little bit sad?

I saw on the news today that a band of elephants in a zoo were given some discarded Christmas trees to play with, Seems that not only do elephants like the taste of some pine needles for a change of pace, but they also find the trees fun to toss around. One elephant was picking up a tree, tossing it on her head, and then watching it fall down, only to repeat the exercise. It was adorable. Who knew that elephants like old Christmas trees?

I wish there were more uses for the trees. In our city, if you just toss out the tree, the city will pick up the trees in a recycling truck, put the trees through a chipper, and then use the chips in the community compost heaps. The compost is available for free to anyone that gardens in our city. But, som many people put the trees in those colorful plastic bags, and those trees end up in the landfill. Such a waste. Especially in a capped landfill. Recycling is so much better.

What does your community do with the cast out trees?

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The Sad Side of the Holidays

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