From Tinsel to Tides: Rewilding with Christmas Trees

By: Anna Bergen, Outreach & Engagement Intern

Every year, approximately 30 million Christmas trees are discarded across the United States, often ending up in landfills without being properly recycled or composted (Messier). But what if I told you there is a better way to get rid of your trees, one that gives them a second life and helps restore the environment?
In the small town of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, the American Littoral Society collects Christmas trees throughout the month of January for the Slade Dale Sanctuary living shoreline project. The sanctuary is located along Beaverdam Creek, where erosion has been continuously eating away at the salt marsh. Since 1930, approximately 2.6 acres of the shoreline have
vanished, threatening the delicate balance of this vital ecosystem (Ursillo).

Each year on or around Earth Day, the community gathers to place the trees into breakwaters, which are essentially wooden structures built to slow down erosion and reduce wave action. As the waves break down the trees, they help capture sediment and create an uplift in the marsh platform, encouraging the growth of vegetation and rebuilding the shoreline. Over
time, this project helps to rebuild the shoreline, restore natural habitats, and protect the sanctuary
from further degradation (Ursillo).

It is extremely important to prevent erosion of this thirteen-acre open forest since it is an
essential habitat for migratory birds, fish, and native plants. The trees also act as another habitat
for the native fauna since they imitate natural wood debris.

The Slade Dale Sanctuary living shoreline project depicts how rewilding and restoration
can be community-oriented, creative, and fulfilling. People from the town all come together to
reconnect with nature and to help save their beloved silver of greener hidden along Beaverdam Creek. So the next time the holidays come to an end, think about where your tree might end up.

Who knows, it could just help to rewild New Jersey’s coast.

Messier, Ashlyn. “25-30M Christmas Trees Are Cut down Annually, Displayed in Homes, Businesses across the US.” Fox Business, Fox Business, 5 Dec. 2024,
http://www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle/25-30-million-christmas-trees-cut-down-annually-display
ed-homes-businesses-across-us.

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