It’s the most wonderful time of the year: in homes across the nation, cheerfully decorated pine, spruce, and fir trees are shedding their desiccated needles, turning into more and more of a fire hazard with each passing day.

What better way to spread the holiday cheer than to compost your tree, helping it give new life to gardens come spring? Whatever you do, don’t be the person who puts their tree on the sidewalk NINE MONTHS AFTER CHRISTMAS. C’mon people.

Remember to remove all lights and ornaments! Nobody wants your stale candy canes or old tinsel in their compost. Don’t try to put your tree in a plastic bag. Please. If you’re composting a wreath, be sure to take out any wires holding it together. The wires are considered contaminants and can damage the machinery used to shred trees. If you can’t take out the wire, trash the wreath.

Unfortunately, the way trees are collected in each local jurisdiction can change from year to year, so we keep having to rewrite this story every December. Argh.

Here’s how to recycle your tree in 2024.

In the District

• The D.C. Department of Public Works will collect holiday trees and greenery from Jan. 2 through March 2.
• Trees should be set out in front of your home at the curb. They’ll be collected within 5 days, according to DPW.
• Curbside tree collection is only available to households served by DPW trash and recycling collection (single-family homes and multi-family buildings of three or fewer units).
• If you are in a multifamily building not served by DPW, enquire with building management.
• All residents can drop off trees at these sites, Mon. through Fri., 8a.m. to 4p.m.
  • 201 Bryant St. NW
  • 3600 Calvert St NW
  • 2700 South Capital St., SE

If you’re a serious procrastinator, after March 2 you can set your tree out where your trash is collected. This is a bad idea for a number of reasons (such as the fact that you’ll be living with a dead tree in your home for three-plus months). Also, trees collected after March 2 will not be composted, but rather landfilled or incinerated.

Trees will be ground up and turned into compost. D.C. residents can get free compost to use for landscaping and gardening at the Fort Totten Transfer Station year-round. You can take as many as five 32-gallon bags (be forewarned, it’s strictly BYOBAS — bring your own bag and shovel).

Outside D.C., things are simpler in most places, as many suburban counties in Maryland and Virginia are way ahead of the District, in terms of offering curbside composting for green waste. In most suburbs there is weekly curbside collection of yard waste and food waste. Even though the District has lofty zero waste goals, yard waste collection in D.C. requires a 311 request and a two-week wait, and the city has only recently started offering curbside collection of food waste through a small pilot program.

In Maryland

• Montgomery County makes the process pretty simple: just leave your tree and any holiday greenery out with your curbside yard waste, and it will be picked up on your regular collection schedule. Set the tree out by 7 a.m. on your collection day. In incorporated towns with their own waste collection the details may vary. Under county law, multifamily buildings that allow Christmas trees must also provide tree composting — enquire with your building management.
• Prince George’s County offers tree collection from Jan. 8 through Jan. 29, 2024 for all residents with county-provided yard waste collection. Place trees at the curb by 6 a.m. on Mondays. Drop off is also available at 3501 Brown Station Rd.,
  Upper Marlboro, Mon. through Sat., 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

In Virginia

• Arlington collects trees along with other yard waste from Jan. 2 through Jan. 12. Place trees at the curb by 6 a.m. on your normal collection day. After Jan. 12, you can still compost your tree, but it will need to meet regular yard waste requirements, meaning trees over 8 ft. will have to be cut into smaller pieces. Residents can pick up free mulch at the county’s Earth Products Yard, or get a truckload delivered for a fee.
• Alexandria collects Christmas trees alongside regular yard waste. Put trees out on your normal collection schedule by 6 a.m. Residents can get free mulch in the spring and summer at the city facility at 4215 Eisenhower Avenue, or have a truckload delivered for a fee.
• Fairfax County collects trees along regular trash and recycling routes during the first two weeks in January. Trees collected after this will be trashed, not composted. (Though the county does offer curbside yard waste collection year-round, it only composts the material March 1 through Dec. 24. The rest of the year, yard waste is incinerated with household trash (with the exception of Christmas trees during the first two weeks in January.) Only about 10% of residents receive trash and recycling pickup through the county government, but private haulers are required to pick up trees during the January window.

What About Artificial Trees?

Perhaps you’re thinking buying a tree you can reuse year after year will help save the planet. However, experts say real Christmas trees are much better for the environment. The manufacture of plastic trees requires fossil fuels, and most of the ones sold in the U.S. are made in China then shipped across the globe, racking up carbon emissions along the way. One study found that you would have to reuse an artificial tree for 20 years or more to make it a more sustainable choice than a real tree.

Real trees, on the other hand, soak up carbon while they’re growing, and can be part of a sustainably managed forest. Artificial trees cannot be composted or recycled, and end up in landfills or incinerators, while real ones can be composted, creating a valuable soil amendment that helps plants grow.

If you have a plastic tree to get rid of, look for someone else who can use it. Montgomery County recommends trying  Craigslist, Freecycle, or your neighborhood email list.