From Mulch to Fish Habitat: Repurposing Old Christmas Trees in Illinois

Now that the holiday decorations have been taken down and packed away, many Illinois residents have found themselves staring at a lone evergreen thinking, now what? Before you haul your Christmas tree to the curb or compost pile, here are some interesting ways to repurpose it.

Christmas Tree Recycling in Rockford

If you're new to the real Christmas tree adventure, figuring out what to do with the tree after the season is over can be a challenge, but it doesn't have to be!

The Rockford area is full of great options for real Christmas tree recycling. Through January 15, Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful hosts tree drop-off locations all over the Stateline area, and after the trees are chipped up, residents can go back and take some mulch for garden beds for free!

If having your tree turned into mulch doesn't sound fun, many zoos, animal sanctuaries, and farms throughout Illinois will gladly take the tree off your hands for their animals to play with, munch on, or shelter in during the winter.

While most of us have heard about using old Christmas trees for mulch or animal enrichment, have you ever heard about them being used as fish habitats? I never had...until today!

Using Old Christmas Trees as Fish Habitats

For several years now, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has collected old Christmas trees to create fish habitats in lakes throughout the state, and the process is pretty fascinating:

collected trees will be bundled together, weighted, and submerged at lakes, providing critical habitat for multiple fish species and promoting algae growth for insects that attract fish for anglers. The trees will naturally decompose over time.

IDNR has multiple drop off locations set up throughout Illinois, including one in Stephenson County at Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Park. For a complete list of Illinois drop off locations, visit dnr.illinois.gov.