New Bedford’s Buttonwood Park Zoo Wants Your Dying Christmas Trees

New Bedford's Buttonwood Park Zoo wants those dying Christmas trees before you put them out on the curb.

If you haven't taken down your tree, or if you have it sitting in your yard or on the roadside hoping the trash guys will pick it up, there's another option you might not have thought about.

There's a place nearby that could actually use your 2022 Christmas tree.

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Buttonwood Park Zoo is looking for clean and untreated Christmas trees, free of any decor you may have put on it for the holidays.

I scratched my head when I heard the New Bedford zoo was looking for our Christmas leftovers. What could they possibly want with our old half-dead trees?

"We give old Christmas trees to some of our animals as a form of physical and sensory enrichment," Buttonwood's Education Director Sara Van Wormer said.

In simpler terms, the zoo gives trees to the animals for a little playtime. 

Here I was thinking the zoo used the trees for mulch or something; they're really just great toys for amazing animals.

If you are sick of staring at your old Christmas tree just rotting away, why not bring it on over to Buttonwood during its normal hours, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The zoo asks that you make sure trees are free and clear of any of decorations including tinsel. Also, doublecheck for any screws or hooks. We don't want to hurt our animal friends.