Super Eco

Is your Christmas tree getting a little brown around the edges already? Thinking about ditching it on December 26? Or can you hold out until the traditional day, January 1 (or, if you're in my family, sometime after Valentine's Day)? If it is, congratulations. You bought a real tree instead of artificial, and that's a more eco-friendly choice. Even though it pains me to say that (kiiling treeees!). But while your little Charlie Brown special was growing, it was also contributing to the awesomeness that is the tree's power to clean the air. And now you can return the favor by recycling your Tannenbaum and giving it back to the earth that warmed its roots before you took it into your hearts and covered it with tinsel.

Many municipalities have curbside pickup of Christmas trees—trees are taken, run through a chipper, and then provide mulch for neighborhood parks or become compost. Either way, it's a great gift to the Earth. Not sure what your town does? Then check in with the people at Earth911, plug in your zip code, and see your options. There's a recycling center less than 3 miles from me, and it's totally worth it for me to haul my crispy brown baby there after the big day.

Or, do you have your own chipper? Make short work of your tree and compost it. Just plain lazy? One year I left my tree out and used it as a backyard animal feeder au naturel, coating pine cones with organic peanut butter and rolling them in bird-friendly seeds and then hanging them from those crispy brown branches (and it's a great keep-them-busy craft idea for kids).

Oh, and until then? A little secret: water your tree (yes, one year I forgot to do that...).