The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.
A farm in Carroll County is taking donations of live Christmas trees and feeding them to their goats. 1080p Trail Camera
Farm Sweet Farm in Mount Airy, a small farm animal rescue, has already collected dozens of trees to feed the goats on their three-acre farm on McHenry Drive.
"The needles have antioxidants and minerals," said Missy Saul, the farm's owner. "It's a natural de-wormer for them."
Saul said the goats will eat down to the bark and that the health benefits are great going into winter. The farm also has sheep and mini pigs.
"This place will look like a Christmas tree graveyard," Saul said.
The wood is then chipped and used as mulch.
All trees must still be green, unpainted, without tinsel or decorations. Trees can be dropped off at the farm at 2415 McHenry Drive in Mount Airy until the third week of January.
Anyone with questions can email the farm at farmsweetfarminc@gmail.com.
The following information details where else live Christmas trees can be recycled across the Baltimore area.
The Anne Arundel County Bureau of Waste Management Services says residents should put natural garland, wreaths and Christmas trees at the curb before 6 a.m. on trash collection days or take them to any of the county's recycling centers.
The Baltimore City Department of Public Works told 11 News tree-mulching services are again available to city residents through Feb. 3 at the Northwest Residential Dropoff Center (2840 Sisson St.), Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents are encouraged to bring their own bags and containers to receive mulch.
Residents are asked to ensure all ornaments, tinsel and decorations are removed from the tree before bringing them to the Sisson Street facility.
Alternatively, city residents can place their live trees with their regular trash for collection through Feb. 5.
The Baltimore County Bureau of Solid Waste Management will collect live Christmas trees for recycling over a two-week period beginning Jan. 8, 2024. Pickup dates vary by location and are not scheduled in advance. Residents must put trees out by Jan. 13 to ensure collection.
Christmas trees will not necessarily be collected on residents' scheduled trash or recycling day. The trees should be left out where trash is normally collected until collection occurs.
The county advises residents only put out live trees that have no decorations (no lights, decorations, tinsel, bags, tree stands, etc.).
The trees will be chipped and later used as mulch.
Residents who wish to drop off Christmas trees can take them undecorated to any one of the county's three drop-off locations, all of which are open Monday-Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Carroll County residents can drop off natural Christmas trees for recycling and reuse. Before dropping off your tree, remove all non-organic objects, including lights, wire, tinsel and ornaments.
Carroll County government locations include:
Carroll County residents who live in a municipality should call their town or city office for Christmas tree pickup schedules.
The Harford County Department of Public Works is making holiday recycling easy for county residents.
"We hope everybody had a fantastic holiday, but as people are wrapping up their holiday and deciding to move the tree out, we are hoping that folks will do that in an environmentally friendly way," Harford County Executive Bob Cassilly told 11 News.
When residents drop off their tree, it'll be put to good use.
"We have a huge flood of Christmas trees. I mean, thousands and thousands of these things, and we don't want to clog up our landfill with the Christmas trees. It's very easy to turn these back into a very usable product," Cassilly told 11 News. "We will convert your old Christmas trees into mulch and send it back out to the community."
The DPW is offering free Christmas tree recycling for county residents at three locations, including a new location in Joppa.
Residents are asked to remove all decorations, lights and tinsel before dropping off trees. No commercial businesses.
Christmas lights and other electronics, clothing, textiles, and more can also be recycled for free at the Harford Waste Disposal Center. Holiday wrapping paper can go in the single-stream recycling.
Cassilly said holiday recycling is a way to keep the Christmas spirit going.
"The whole idea of Christmas, of loving each other and being friendly, well, let's be friendly to the planet, as well," Cassilly told 11 News.
From Dec. 26 to Jan. 20, Howard County residents can take part in "Merry Mulch" to recycle live Christmas trees at the composting facility at Alpha Ridge Landfill (2350 Marriottsville Road, Marriottsville) Monday-Saturday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
County residents can also set their tree out the night before trash collection days. Trees are picked up by yard trim trucks as early as 6 a.m. and as late as 5 p.m. Residents are asked to remove all decorations, including tinsel, garland, ornaments, lights, tree stands, plastic bags, etc. Trees must be cut into less than 4-foot lengths and tied. Bundles must weigh less than 40 pounds.
In addition to the Alpha Ridge Landfill location, county residents can drop off trees at the following sites.
Ltl Acorn Trail Camera Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.