Getting rid of an artificial tree

[BetsyS]

We have a cheapie artificial Christmas tree that has bit the dust this year. It is 5 year old, and this year, the prelit lights stopped working. As in..they smell funny, flicker occasionally, and it's a safety hazard to use them. I've fiddled with the fuses, etc (because the tree was already up and decorated) without success.

I want to get rid of the tree, and we'll get a new one next year.

Question is...how to dispose of it?

Normally, I would donate something like this to Goodwill, but I feel bad giving them something that doesn't work. The landfill seems so..wasteful. But, I'm out of other ideas. Any one have a great plan??

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by BetsyS

Normally, I would donate something like this to Goodwill, but I feel bad giving them something that doesn't work. The landfill seems so..wasteful. But, I'm out of other ideas. Any one have a great plan??

I would call around to several donation places and see if any of them are doing repair trainings.. sometimes they want broken items to train people in repairs.

Another option is to unwrap the lights from the tree. I bought a prelit tree this year. Mine is three parts (top, middle, bottom) and each section has a set of lights but they are only wrapped around each branch. I could snip the lights off or unwrap them and then just donate the tree itself if yours is like mine.