For many people, Christmas and that magical scent of a freshly cut pine tree are one in the same. But after the gifts have been unwrapped, the relatives have returned home and New Year's Day arrives, does that tree, now dried up and shedding needles, just get tossed out with the trash? In this day and age, we really don't have the liberty to be wasteful and, in fact, the tradition of recycling Christmas trees goes back to sixteenth century Europe. In the olden days the trees were burned in a ceremony on the evening of Epiphany; nowadays they make good mulch or compost. Mulching a Christmas tree is easy enough to do - many municipalities have drop off locations and the trees will be chipped for mulching city-landscaping projects. Some towns will even pick up your tree at your curbside on a specified day. You can also chip the tree yourself for your own mulch, or at least break off a few branches to cover planting beds. Before breaking up your tree, however, you may want to place it in your backyard for a while. Decorated with strings of popcorn and cranberries, they make a nice shelter for birds and small animals, and a place for them to snack. Now that your tree has finished giving you joy for the holidays, allow it to give back to the earth from which it came.