With the New Year fast approaching, Christmas decorations and trees will start to come down signaling the end of the holiday season.

This year instead of just throwing away your real Christmas tree away or leaving it to rot, you should think about recycling the tree.

While Progressive Waste Management, who does garbage pickup for the City of Picayune, will be collecting residents’ Christmas trees, they will not be recycled.

But instead of putting the tree out with the trash, find a way so the tree can still be helpful to the world.

The National Christmas Tree Association says your Christmas tree can be sunk into private ponds and be used as a fish habitat.

The association says along with providing cover for the fish in your pond, it can be a bird sanctuary. The tree can be kept in the stand and brought outside for the winter. If you place bird feeders or bird friendly fruits on it, the tree becomes a winter home for the birds in the area.

A Christmas tree can also be cut up or ground into mulch for your garden or chopped up to use as firewood for a New Years Eve bonfire.

If you are heading to Harrison County, there are several places to drop off your tree to be recycled, including the Ken Combs Pier parking lot on U.S. 90 and Courthouse Road in Gulfport, the parking bay on U.S. 90 and Jeff Davis Avenue in Long Beach, and the Mississippi Power Plant Watson on Lorraine Road in Gulfport.

So this year before hauling the tree to the trash, think about how it can be reused instead.