Did you decide to celebrate the Christmas holiday by engaging in the time-honored tradition of cutting down a big piece of greenery, placing it in your home and decorating it with trinkets and various electrical wires, only to take it down a few days after the holiday? Well, don’t just throw that tree away — you can recycle it! The District Department of Public Works says that they’ll be collecting trees curbside from treeboxes in front of people’s homes between January 3 and 15, but if you don’t want to wait, you can also take your tree to any number of recycling centers in the District, Virginia and Maryland and turn that piece of holiday paraphenalia into a soil erosion barrier, a fish or bird feeder, mulch or a path for a hiking trail. Consider it your belated Christmas gift to the environment — just don’t forget to take off the decor. (Yes, even the ugly ornaments.)