Where do I take my Christmas tree without a root ball?

As soon as Sinterklaas leaves the country, we bring in our trees and a month later we want to get rid of them en masse. What options are there, and what is the most sustainable way to get rid of your Christmas tree without a root ball?

‍You can return a BeterBoompje with a root ball after the holidays so that we can put it back in the ground. For Christmas trees without a root ball, this is a different story. These cannot go back into the ground, so what should you do? There are various ways to give your Christmas tree a nice destination without a root ball; however, some are a lot more sustainable than the other.
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The fire in 🔥

The least sustainable way to get rid of your Christmas tree is to burn it. In cities such as Scheveningen and Duindorp, this has been happening for years; trees are being collected, stacked and burned. Fortunately, this ancient tradition takes place less and less frequently on a national scale. This has everything to do with the large amount of CO2 that is released during these “bonfires”. It is extremely harmful to the environment.
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Zoo

Another way to get rid of your Christmas tree is to donate it to a zoo near you. This has been possible at Amersfoort Zoo and Alpacafarm Zeelandia in recent years, for example, but that is not the case everywhere. So check if this is possible before you are sent back home with your Christmas tree. Don't you live near a zoo where you can drop off your Christmas tree? Then you can also choose to cut your tree into small pieces and throw it in the organic waste bin, or hand it in to a recycling center near you. Many municipalities even have a special waste bin for this after Christmas.
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amass

Ultimately, most people choose to hand in their tree at a municipal drop-off point. Depending on the municipality where you live, your tree will have a beautiful destination. For example, in Groningen, compost and green electricity are made from Christmas trees, and in Eindhoven, they make wood chips from them for biomass plants. In Rotterdam, a Christmas tree challenge was even held in 2021, with the aim of jointly processing 10,000 Christmas trees into products such as photo frames and Christmas ornaments.
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About BeterBoompje

‍ The most sustainable Christmas tree is a BeterBoompje with a root ball. Unfortunately, there are not enough of these trees yet. That is why we also sell BeterBoompjes without a root ball. For every tree sold without a root ball, we plant two adoptive tree cuts with a root ball. This is how we are building our Christmas tree forest together and in the future it will be possible for everyone to buy a Christmas tree with a root ball that will go back into the ground after the holidays.

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