Recycling Christmas Trees In Paris

With the Christmas season at its end, Parisians must now discard millions of Christmas trees tucked away in their apartments, which is no small task for a city of over 2 million people (11 million plus including the suburbs).  Paris, however, is innovative at many things, including the recycling of its Christmas trees.  The city establishes multiple recycling areas at parks throughout the city — one of our favorite places being at Place Rodin in the 16th Arrondissement, which includes an orginal Rodin sculpture at the roundabout.  But how do people discard of their trees, especially when they live four or five floors up in a tall apartment building?

In our first apartment, on Rue Dupont des Loges, we found out the answer to that question when we saw an apartment owner across the street — five floors up (that is six floors in the U.S. as the French count the ground floor as zero) — literally threw his Christmas tree out the window, to plunge six stories down until it crashed on the sidewalk below.  Thankfully, no cars or pedestrians were harmed.  So now is the time to watch out above, as you never know if a Christmas tree is about to give you a surprise from the heavens above.

Recycling centers are open until January 27.  Of course, you can do what many Parisians do, which is just throw your Christmas tree out your window.

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