We all know the importance of recycling cans and plastic stuff, but what about your Christmas tree?

This year, a group called the Four Frozen Farmers is selling fresh, locally grown trees at Construction Junction in Point Breeze and asking buyers to return the tree to be used once more -- as mulch.

"It's a terrible waste to send perfectly good organic matter like that into a landfill," says Mindy Schwartz, Construction Junction's development and IT manager. "Why not send it back to be chopped up and turned into mulch and become something beneficial?"

Since 2004, the Pennsylvania Resources Council and this nonprofit dealer in used and surplus construction materials have collected more than 1,000 trees that otherwise would have been left for garbage pickup. Ms. Schwartz calls it their Christmas gift to the planet.

"The earth is a cycle, and I think it's important for us to respect that cycle," she says. "When a Christmas tree grows and consumes energy, its natural cycle is to return to the earth, decompose and become compost."

This is the first year that the 72,000-square-foot warehouse has sold trees. Four Frozen Farmers are Neil Stauffer, Susanna Meyer, Jen Montgomery and Josh Burnett -- all young urban farmers, two of whom have previously sold Christmas trees together.

They have Douglas firs starting at $20 and Fraser, Douglas, concolor and Canaan firs starting at $25. The trees range in size from 4 to 9 feet. Handmade wreaths start at $14. For more information on tree sales, call 412-956-9873 or e-mail 4frozen farmers@gmail.com.

Of course, you don't have to buy your tree there to recycle it. Anyone can bring a Christmas tree to Construction Junction from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 13. The cost of disposal is $1 each. Emery Tree Service has provided three disposal bins and will shred the trees.

Some municipalities recycle trees; call your local public works department to find out. If you live in one that does, remember to take off all decorations, string and tinsel before putting the tree at the curb.

The city of Pittsburgh used to recycle trees left at the curb but no longer. Now, they're sent to a landfill.

However, trees will be recycled if dropped off after Jan. 1 at the city Environmental Services office, 3001 Railroad St., Strip District, or one of the Department of Public Works' five divisions -- Grand Avenue (near Riverview Park), North Side; North Dallas and Hamilton avenues, Point Breeze; Melanchton Avenue (off 5200 block of Second Avenue), Hazelwood; 414 Bausman St., South Side; or 1330 Hassler St., West End. All are open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays; the West End division also is open on Saturdays. Information: 412-255-2780 or 412-255-2631.

There are other ways to re-use a Christmas tree. If you have a corner of your landscape that's wild (and neighbors who don't mind), use the tree as habitat for birds or other wildlife. Rabbits in particular use dead trees for winter protection. In some communities, trees are sunk to the bottom of lakes to provide habitat for underwater wildlife. The same thing could be done in a small pond.

Ginette Walker Vinski, environmental program coordinator for the Pennsylvania Resources Council, says Christmas trees are sometimes considered "hard-to-recycle" items, such as oil-based paints or pesticides. But they shouldn't be.

"I want people to recycle so that they don't waste resources. You don't have to just throw something away. People need to start thinking of other uses for materials that they want to get rid of."

Construction Junction, 214 N. Lexington St., Point Breeze, is looking for volunteers to help unload trees and direct traffic on Jan. 13. Information: Mindy Schwartz at 412-243-5025.

For information on recycling trees in Butler and Westmoreland counties, call 724-284-5305 and 724-836-4129, respectively, or go to www.post-gazette.com/garden.

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