With the 2014 Christmas season coming to a close, there is a way Chilton County residents can recycle live Christmas trees.

Undecorated trees may be dropped off at a designated location in the parking lot of the Winn-Dixie shopping center off Highway 31 in Clanton to be recycled.

Central Alabama Electric Cooperative partners with Winn Dixie in an effort to recycle the trees.

“The trees are chipped to be used as mulch or for erosion control,” Central Alabama Electric Cooperative communications specialist Tiffany Trueblood said. “By utilizing our equipment for chipping the trees, tree-cycling is a simple way to bring a renewable and natural source back to the environment.”

Trees can be dropped off from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Jan. 2.

The Alabama Cooperative Extension has also published a list of a few things individuals can do with their live trees after Christmas.

One way is to chip or grind the trees for mulch.

The application of grinding the trees can be beneficial for landscape plants.

A second option is using a cut Christmas tree to attract birds by using it as a bird feeder or a “roosting” site for birds.

Christmas trees should not be burned in a fireplace or wood heater because they are usually firs, pines or other evergreens, according to the list published by the Alabama Cooperative Extension.

When these types of trees are burned, they give off flammable oils, and the oils are deposited as creosote in the chimney and may cause a chimney fire.