What's the best way to recycle a Christmas tree?

Did you have a real Christmas tree? The adults in your life might've spent the last few weeks clearing dropped pine needles and now it's time to get rid of the festive fir entirely.

Now bare, with the decorations back in their box, what's the best way to remove and recycle 2024's Christmas trees.

Here are just a few ideas from around the UK.

How zoo animals can use Christmas trees

One zoo in Somerset is asking people to drop off their old Christmas trees for their animals to enjoy.

Noah's Ark Zoo Farm has received about 15,000 trees over the past five years.

Some of the trees will be turned into chippings for the zoo's spectacled bears which enjoy their smell, meanwhile rhinos enjoy foraging through them.

Other trees will be given to the zoo's African bull elephants, who will eat the branches and forage through the trees.

The zoo's elephants like to eat the Christmas trees, as well as throw them around

The zoo's curator, Chris Wilkinson, said: "The trees have a really nice smell that they're not used to, so some of the animals will have a good rub against them.

"For the elephants - their habitat is full of sand, which means we can bury the trees and stand them up to make a whole forest for them to come and explore.

"They'll eat them a bit, they'll throw them around, they'll explore for the food we put in."

Hungry pygmy goats and alpacas at the Dorset farm have been eating the festive trees

Elsewhere Willowbank Farm, in Piddletrenthide near Dorchester, is taking donated Christmas trees and feeding them to its alpacas and goats.

"It's good to get public help when we can," said the farm's owner Kevin Woodford.

Mr Woodford posted on social media showing their alpacas enjoying the old trees.

"It's like they've got a new toy in the field, they run over, they roll in it, they scratch their back on them, they all group around and have fun with them," he said.

The farm then began to receive donations of the festive pines.

Racing to recycle

Two villagers run towards the finish line with their Christmas trees

Christmas tree recycling has been turned into a competitive sport in the Hampshire village of Ewshot - where locals, carrying their trees, race each other roughly 500m to the recycling station.

Nancy Bassant who came up with the idea a year ago, said: "It's starting the new year in a healthy way and doing something positive by recycling."

The rules of the race state that no decorations, no wheels or motorised vehicles and no use of pets for assistance, are allowed.

Firefighter collection

Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service is hoping to beat the £2,000 raised in 2024

Fire crews are using any time off to collect and dispose of Christmas trees in Guernsey, one of English Channel Islands, near the French coast

Team members are collecting the trees in return for a donation to the Fire Fighters Charity, which works to support the health and wellbeing of firefighters.

The service said there had been an increase in the number of people booking a collection, which could see donations beat the £2,300 total, raised in 2024.

Firefighter Charlie Roger said: "On our second day we had over 100 trees, so definitely felt tired after that but there is a few of us and we take it turns so it's not so bad.

"This year has been a lot more popular so we are hoping to smash it out of the park."

The British Christmas Tree Grower Association (BCTGA) estimates that around six to eight million real Christmas trees sold in the UK per year.

But the way that you dispose of them can make a big difference to the environment.

The Carbon Trust says that if real trees are cut up into wood chippings rather than ending up in landfill, it will reduce the carbon footprint by 80%.

Your carbon footprint is all about how much carbon dioxide - which is a planet warming gas - goes into the atmosphere because of the energy people or things use.

If a tree is sent to landfill, it will produce another greenhouse gas called methane as it decomposes.

The Carbon Trust says methane is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, creating a larger footprint.

Lots of local councils collect old Christmas trees as part of their bin collections and some have places you can drop them off to be recycled.

Get a grown up to check what the options are where you live if they are not sure.