It’s that time of year! Fundraisers that focus on the holidays are popular, but finding ones that focus on green can be hard. There is one thing about Christmas that is always green, however, and that’s the tree! Discarded Christmas trees have a big impact on landfills in the first few weeks of the new year. There’s an easy green fundraising solution, however, that can work two ways to raise funds for your organization. 

Advertise a pick up service for the first weekend of the new year. See if you can find a trailer you can borrow, or ask a local company to donate the use of one. Let people know you will be picking up Christmas trees for $10 haul off fee. Let them know you realize they can have the trash service do it, but point out the impact on the landfill and add that you will be recycling the Christmas trees to benefit both the environment and your cause.  

Small sturdy trees can be turned into bird feeders. Stand them on a large drop cloth an daub them with peanut butter and suet, then pour birdseed over them. You can anchor them in buckets full of rocks, and sell them. Larger trees or ones with many loose needles can be chipped, and bagged to sell as mulch. You can ask a rental place to donate or reduce the cost of renting a chipper. 

This fundraiser has a task for every age group and is easy to do. You’ll be keeping the landfill free from excess debris, and raising money at the same time! Another great thing you can do is offer to pick up boxes and bags of wrapping paper at the same time you are doing the tree collection. These can be dropped of at the recycling center, for even more environmental assistance!