How you can recycle Christmas trees on Long Island

It may be lights out for most of the season’s Christmas trees, but they can live on in the belly of the beast (goats) or out in the open and underfoot (mulch).

Rather than tossing the tree to the curb for sanitation crews to dispose of, some municipalities and farms accept the evergreens and give them a second life, from bolstering dunes to providing a healthy snack for animals.

Adrienne Esposito, executive director and co-founder of the Farmingdale-based Citizens Campaign for the Environment, is urging Long Islanders to consider recycling options. 

“A used Christmas tree should not be looked at as a waste product, but rather a raw material for some other good use, such as mulching and restoration,” Esposito said. “There’s really no sense in sending a tree to an incinerator or a landfill.” 

Each municipality offers different options, pick-up dates and rules, so check with local governments about tree recycling. All decorations must be removed first. 

Here’s where and how to recycle your tree:

Suffolk County will accept real trees through Jan. 15 at Smith Point County Park in Shirley, where the donated pines will be used to bolster the park’s dunes. Trees can be left behind the east booth from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., a spokesperson said. 

Hempstead Town holds an annual “Mulchfest” for residents to turn their tree into a bag of mulch that they can keep or donate to the town. It will be held Jan. 7 and 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Baldwin Park. 

The annual event has become one of Town Supervisor Don Clavin’s favorite traditions, he said. To lure residents to the mulch-centric event, the town will offer cocoa and also recycle any cardboard boxes lingering from holiday celebrations.

“It’s a fun time,” Clavin said. “People love the environment. They want to do their share, and this way they know they’re doing a little recycling.” 

Brookhaven Town also turns donated pines into mulch that the municipality later uses to spruce up its facilities and parks, said spokesman Jack Krieger. Residents can request bags of mulch for free at the town’s landfills. 

Real trees can be placed with yard waste on Jan. 8 for pickup.

Babylon Town also converts recycled trees into mulch. Residents can put the trees next to their regular trash for collection. 

Pine needles provide vitamin C for farm animals and also are a natural dewormer, making them the perfect snack for Long Island menageries. 

“They will devour the trees. They’re like piranhas,” said Erin Burke of the goats at her Catapano Dairy Farm in Peconic. “They really think they taste great.” 

The animals descend upon the pines as soon as they are tossed into their enclosure. Once the tree’s needles are devoured and the gaggle of goats is finished using the branches as scratching posts, Burke said it is recycled yet again into wood chips for the farm’s compost pile. 

“We think it’s a great way to recycle your trees,” Burke said. “You’re providing the goats with something nutritious and delicious that they might not otherwise routinely get.”

Catapano Dairy Farm will accept trees through Jan. 10. Call 631-765-8042 to arrange a drop-off time.  

Despite its name, Browder’s Birds raises more than just poultry. The owners also raise heritage Cotswold sheep and Dexter cattle. Since both animals are herbivores, they love pine, said owner Holly Browder. 

“They would wait at the farm stand, like 20 sheep, and people would throw a tree out, and they would jump on it,” Browder said. 

Browder’s Birds has a farm stand open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 4050 Soundview Ave. in Mattituck, where trees can be donated.