(Mario Tama/Getty Images)
By Sam Britt
Instead of dragging your Christmas tree out the door and plopping it on the curb, the Connecticut Sea Grant has a new use for your discarded evergreens, using them to fight coastal erosion.
Coastal erosion is a natural phenomenon where strong waves and floods wear down or carry away rocks and sand from the shore. However, due to global warming causing the sea levels to rise, the effect of coastal erosion has become more severe.
According to Climate.gov, more than $500 million of coastal property is lost per year to coastal erosion. It also cost the federal government $150 million to combat it. UConn Today reports Louisiana is losing 20 meters of land a year.
Human needs are not the only thing to consider. Many animals are losing their habitat as the coastline erodes and due to nearby human development, they may not have anywhere to move to. These ecosystems may be destroyed if nothing is done to save them.
“Beaches and dunes are naturally dynamic habitats, and they tend to migrate landward,” Juliana Barrett, extension educator and coastal habitat specialist at Connecticut Sea Grant, says. “Because of land use, there’s not a lot of places and distance for our beaches and dune systems to migrate.”
That is where the Christmas trees come in, stripped of tinsel of course.
Discarded trees can be buried and create a wall that catches wind-blown sand. Over time these walls will accumulate sand and create dunes that can help prevent flooding.
“It’s one of the first protective barriers we have when a storm is coming,” Barrett says. “It’s going to hit the beaches and dunes first and protect what’s behind it.”
The trees can also be used in marshes to prevent sediment from being taken back out to sea by waves. In the Mandalay National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana the trees filter water and collect the sediment, creating more land.
“I have seen some of the older sites and the shoreline has been restored in these locations,” said Terrebonne Coastal Restoration Director Mart Black.
This system has been utilized by Connecticut towns such as New London, East Lyme and Waterford. Waterford put the evergreens in place after Hurricane Sandy struck the coast in 2012. They have since been buried within new sand dunes.
So before you toss your tree consider sending it to combat the rising tides. Click here to learn how to help save your local beach.