KBSU’s Green Watch: Activists on Recycling Christmas Trees

How to end the New Year’s holidays? The most environmentally friendly and ethical option is to recycle your Christmas tree, pine, or blue spruce.

Experts estimate that in the natural environment, a living tree takes about 10 years to decompose; in a landfill, this period is two to three times longer. In the process, trees emit greenhouse gases, particularly methane, and create a fire hazard. You can minimize your carbon footprint by recycling your trees after the holidays.

The «Christmas Tree Cycle» campaign began in 2016 and is held in 200 communities across Russia. Over nine years, activists have collected over 259,000 trees, which have been recycled into 4,000 cubic meters of wood chips. The end product is used for compost, biochar, animal bedding, and in landscaping projects.

In Kabardino-Balkaria, the campaign is being carried out by the Kabardino-Balkarian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Kabardino-Balkarian Ministry of Youth Affairs, Ecologistics LLC, and the KBSU environmental work brigade «Green Watch.» Oksana Kodzokova, a specialist at the KBSU Center for Supporting Student Associations, Youth Programs, and Projects, explains how to prepare trees for recycling:

— The coniferous tree must be thoroughly cleaned of all decorations and artificial materials, such as tape, rope, film, metal supports, or nails. Only the trunk, branches, and needles should be recycled, so that the tree returns to the ecosystem as useful material.
During recycling, trees are loaded into a chipping machine, which grinds the trunk and branches into wood chips of varying sizes. The resulting chips—mulch—are stored for further use in the urban environment. The process does not require any chemical treatment.

«Wood chips are used in municipal services for composting or covering the trunks of trees and shrubs in parks, squares, and flowerbeds,» adds Oksana Kodzokova. «This protects plant roots from frost and heat and suppresses weed growth. Mulch absorbs moisture well and is used as bedding for animals in zoo enclosures and stables.»
Oksana Kodzokova announced that in 2026, KBSU will expand its eco-recycling workshop and add additional containers for separate waste collection. Volunteers are planning events, lectures, master classes, and cleanup days not only in Nalchik but also in recreational areas across the republic.

As a reminder, in 2025, the KBSU environmental work team «Green Watch» collected over 2 tons of waste paper and also took second place in the All-Russian competition «Green Prize» in the «Educational Projects» category.