Dear Jolly Green Holly:

THANKS for your efforts to make the best use of Christmas trees! There is still a lot of very useful life remaining in that Auld Tannenbaum when you stow your decorations back in the basement. You can:

REUSE your Christmas tree outside your home by standing it in your backyard as a bird feeder and sanctuary. Fresh orange slices or strung popcorn will attract the birds, and they can sit in the branches for shelter. Make sure you remove all decorations, hooks, lights, garland, and tinsel strands before placing it in your yard.

Plan to REDUCE the demand for cut trees next year, by planning to purchase a rooted (ball and burlapped or containerized) Christmas tree next year. When the holidays are over, you can plant the tree in your yard. Or shop the sales for an artificial tree.

RECYCLE your fine pine! Your tree will benefit our environment by being chopped into mulch or used by conservation agents for fish habitat. Be sure to remove the tree stand, decorations, and plastic bag or tree cover before leaving your Christmas tree at a special Christmas Tree recycling site.

The City of St. Louis has three drop-off locations for Christmas tree recycling; collection goes from December 26th - January 20th

• O' Fallon Park at West Florissant and Holly
• Forest Park in the Lower Muny parking lot
• Carondelet Park-Grand at Holly Hills at Picnic Area Two

St. Louis County recommends taking trees to any of four commercial composting businesses, located in Valley Park, West Alton, Pacific and Maryland Heights; there’s a $1 per tree fee. Locations and Times

In Jefferson County, designated drop areas for your tree will be marked at:

• High Ridge - Pleasant Valley Nature Preserve, Highway PP and Byrnes Mill Road
• North of Hillsboro - Sun Ridge Park, 8093 Tower Road
• Hillsboro Courthouse Lower Parking Lot
• Crystal City - Crystal City Park

St. Charles County tree drop-off locations and times include:

St. Peters

• Laurel Park (upper parking lot), off McClay Rd.
• St. Peters Golf and Recreation Center, 200 Salt Lick Rd.
• St. Peters Earth Centre, 115 Ecology Dr.
  Open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday, until Jan. 19

Wentzville

• Quail Ridge Park (group picnic area), 5501 Quail Ridge Pkwy.
  Open 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week, until Jan. 22
• Progress Park, 968 Meyer Rd.
  Open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week, until Jan. 20

O'Fallon

• Civic Park (upper parking lot), 400 Civic Park Dr.
• O'Fallon Sports Park (phase I), 3589 Hwy. K
  Open dawn to dusk, seven days a week, until Jan. 19

Lake Saint Louis

• Boulevard Park, 2550 Lake Saint Louis Blvd.
  Open dawn to dusk, seven days a week, until Jan. 21

Tree recyclers in Metro-East have plenty of options in Madison County(locations and times) and in St. Clair County(locations and times)

– Green Jean