By JESSICA DAMIANO, Associated Press

What to buy, what to serve, which events to attend — December is typically full of decisions. Here’s one more for you to contemplate: What are you going to do with your Christmas tree?

According to the Nature Conservancy, some 10 million live Christmas trees end up in landfills every year. There, they are covered with soil, which results in anaerobic (oxygen-deprived) decomposition rather than the aerobic (oxygen-fueled) process by which they would break down in a natural setting, such as on the forest floor.

Anaerobic decomposition is not only very slow (a tree can take years to break down) but it also generates greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide, which may contaminate groundwater.

If you’d like to avoid this, you have options that not only will avoid harming the environment but may also help improve your garden, and all of them begin with removing ornaments, tinsel or “flocking” (spray-on fake “snow”) from the tree.

This Dec. 29, 2018, image provided by Jessica Damiano shows John Damiano removing Christmas tree branches indoors for use as a winter mulch in the garden on Long Island, N.Y. (Jessica Damiano via AP)

Firewood and mulch

At the end of every holiday season, my late husband, John, used to remove our Christmas trees’ branches — one by one — using garden pruners right in the living room. As he cut each branch, he would drop it into a large trash bag at his feet.

When the bag was full, I would take it outdoors and distribute the branches throughout the garden to insulate the soil and protect bulbs and perennial root crowns from heaving out of the ground during the freeze-thaw cycles of winter.

Meanwhile, John would get to work sawing the trunk into segments, then would bring them outdoors, where they would cure over winter. After six months of drying, we’d burn the dried wood in our fire pit. Ashes to ashes, as they say.

In spring, I would revisit my garden mulch and cut the brittle branches and stems into smaller pieces, leaving them in place to further decompose without interfering with the emerging springtime garden. Pine needles don’t significantly lower soil pH, despite what you might have heard, so they will not imperil your plants.

The practice not only provides free winter mulch and firewood, but also allows you to remove the tree from the house without leaving a trail of needles from the living room to the door. Win-win!

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Wildlife havens

If you have a large pond, consider sinking your tree to create shelter for fish. They’ll appreciate their new hiding place.

Or leave the tree in its stand and set it out in the yard. Secure it, if necessary, to avoid tipping in strong winter winds. Then watch as nonmigratory birds make a home in it. A bird feeder hanging from a branch will help entice new residents even more.

If that’s not possible, just drag the whole thing outside and lay it down in an out-of-the-way corner of the yard to provide shelter for birds and other wildlife.

Local programs

Some communities hold special tree collections after the holidays and use them to fortify sand dunes, counter erosion or provide shelter for wildlife. Some municipalities chip collected trees and then supply the resulting mulch free of charge to homeowners.

To find programs in your town, county, or state, call your local offices or search online.

You might even donate your tree to a local farm; many will welcome your contribution to their livestock’s food supply.

Jessica Damiano writes weekly gardening columns for the AP and publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. You can sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.

UP TO $15,000 in prize money

Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt sponsored by Cub and the St. Paul Winter Carnival

This year, the Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com is partnering with the St. Paul Winter Carnival to celebrate its 140th anniversary with the biggest prize ever!

The Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com hides a small medallion on public land in Ramsey County. The rules are simple: No purchase is necessary to win.

The hunt starts on Sunday (Jan. 18), before the 140th St. Paul Winter Carnival kicks off on Jan. 22. A new clue appears daily (for 12 days or until the medallion is found) in print and online. Hunters read the clues to figure out where the medallion is hidden. The person who finds the medallion wins $5,000. Additionally, they can win an extra $5,000 if they have the registered commemorative 2026 Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt Patch. If they have the first two listed items in celebration of the 140th Winter Carnival, they can win an extra $5,000 if they also have a 2026 St. Paul Winter Carnival Button.

Total WIN could be up to $15,000.

It’s as simple as this:

Solve the clues and find it. Have a registered Treasure Hunt Patch and a Winter Carnival Button, and you’ll win $15,000 (in that order, no exceptions).

2025 Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt rules

No purchase necessary to win. Treasure Hunt clues will be published in the Pioneer Press and TwinCities.com starting Sunday, January 18, 2026. A new clue will appear daily through Thursday, January 29, 2026, unless the medallion is found before that date. Read the daily clues to search for the Pioneer Press medallion hidden on public land in Ramsey County. The medallion will not be hidden on the State Capitol grounds, at Como Zoo & Conservatory, Rice Park, Silver Oaks Park, Maplewood’s Preserves and Open Space, Wakan Tipi/formerly Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary or Wicahapi/formerly Indian Mounds Regional Park, Hansen Park in New Brighton or under any skating surface, cross-country ski trails, and golf courses, under or on any artificial turf surface, or at any construction site. Do not destroy anything to find the medallion.

If you find the Pioneer Press medallion, PROMPTLY call the number on the medallion for further instructions on qualifying for the $5,000 initial cash prize. Please refrain from engaging with or speaking to other media outlets before contacting the Pioneer Press. Receive an additional $5,000 if the individual who finds the medallion has a registered Pioneer Press Treasure Hunt Patch in their name (NO SHARING for groups, teams, or families). Each member must have a registered patch if you are hunting in a group. The Pioneer Press will recognize one winner with one prize. If the finder chooses to share the prize award, it will be their responsibility. Patches are immediately registered when purchased online by Friday, January 16, 2026.

If the medallion is not found by 11:59 p.m. Thursday, January 30, 2026, the Pioneer Press reserves the right to terminate the hunt and donate the prize to a local charity or park.

The Pioneer Press reserves the right to discontinue the hunt if public property is destroyed.

General Conditions: Individuals under 18 must have a parent or legal guardian’s permission to participate in the hunt. The parent or guardian who claims the prize on behalf of a child must have a registered patch. The winner must execute and return a Certificate of Eligibility and General Release forms within 24 hours of notifying the paper that the medallion has been found. If the winner is under 18, the Certificate must be signed by their parent or legal guardian.

Non-compliance may result in disqualification. Any income tax liability is the sole responsibility of the winner. All participants agree that the Pioneer Press, TwinCities.com, St Paul Winter Carnival, Sponsor(s), and their respective affiliate companies, parents, subsidiaries, advertising representatives, and agent/consultants will have NO liability whatsoever and will be held harmless by participants for any injuries, losses, or damages of any kind resulting in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from acceptance, possession, misuse or use of the prizes or participation in this contest. Except where legally prohibited, by accepting the award, the winner grants permission for Pioneer Press/TwinCities.com, its partners, and those acting under its authority to use their name, photograph, voice, and likeness for advertising and publicity without compensation.

No purchase necessary to win. All contest rules and decisions are final.

Employees, carriers, and immediate family members of Pioneer Press, TwinCities.com, and contest partners are not eligible. Please be aware of and follow all local laws and health regulations. Please abide by all the rules and requests of police officers or local officials. Night hunting or hunting alone is NOT recommended for your safety. All HUNTING WILL BE DONE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Participating in this hunt assumes you have read these rules and risks and will abide by them.

For a list of the winners, write to:

Pioneer Press/Treasure Hunt Winner
One West Water Street, Suite 200
St. Paul, MN 55107

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At first, Everly Green’s parents didn’t understand why her doctors wanted genetic testing. Their daughter was behind on her milestones at 18 months, but was gradually making progress, and they expected that to continue.

Then, when she turned 2, the seizures started. She suddenly began to lose skills. Three months later, Everly needed a feeding tube. Now, at 8, she can only move her eyes, allowing her to communicate via a screen.

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Everly, whose family lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, has a rare mutation in a gene called FRRS1L, pronounced “frizzle,” which affects how cells in her brain communicate. Her parents, and other members of the tiny community of children with the condition, have worked with researchers and small-scale manufacturers to develop a treatment that could restore some of her ability to move — but only if they can raise $4 million to develop and test it.

Everly clearly understands what happens around her and loves school, where she learns in a mainstream classroom with support and has several best friends, said Chrissy Green, Everly’s mother. Still, she wants to do things she can’t, such as holding toys on her own or going on the occasional family trip with her brothers, Green said.

“These kids are in there, they want to play like other kids, they just can’t move,” she said.

Green is co-president of the foundation Finding Hope for FRRS1L, which is collecting funds for the next stage of drug development. Children with FRRS1L gene disorder, the foundation’s website says, “are trapped in a body they can’t move, however still retain high cognitive function, understanding, communication and awareness.”

Worldwide, only a few dozen children currently have a diagnosis of the same mutation in FRRS1L, meaning there’s little interest from drug companies. Families are on their own to fund research and, if all goes well, convince the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that the treatment is safe and effective enough to go on the market.

And, even if they succeed with the FDA, they’ll still face a battle with insurance companies that may not want to pay the steep price for a drug to correct a faulty gene. (Even though the families aren’t looking to make a profit, these types of treatments are expensive, and the company under contract to do the manufacturing isn’t doing it for free.)

Chrissy Green sits with her daughter Everly, 8, as her two boys Colton, 9, left, and Ryle, 4, play at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

Gene therapy involves replacing a faulty gene with a healthy one, usually via a harmless virus engineered to insert a specific snippet of genetic code. It has offered a new way to treat infants born without functioning immune systems, who previously relied on bone marrow transplants. Trials have also shown good results with a liver problem causing ammonia to build up in the body, and one form of inherited deafness.

The technology also carries risks. Patients have died after receiving gene therapies, with liver problems emerging as a potential risk.

Normally, drug companies take on the financial risk of turning basic research that’s often publicly funded into treatments, with the hope of eventually making a profit. For gene therapies, that model can break down because of the small number of patients. Green’s FRRS1L foundation knows of about three dozen patients worldwide, though other children with unexplained seizures could have the mutation.

A drug that treats so few patients will never be profitable, so parents are largely on their own in trying to fund research and development, said Neil Hackett, a researcher who has worked with families on gene therapies and advised the FRRS1L foundation. Usually, they can’t do it unless they happen to have one or more business-savvy parents with the time and resources to run a foundation while caring for a child with complex needs, he said.

“They need specific expertise, which is not easy to find, and they need massive amounts of money,” he said.

Steve Green supports his daughter Everly’s head as the family plays with toys together at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

When they first received Everly’s diagnosis, her doctor told the family to make the most of the time they had left, because medicine couldn’t offer anything to extend her life or reduce her symptoms, Green said. She didn’t initially question that, but focused on loving her daughter and trading tips for daily life with other families via Facebook.

Green connected with a mother in London who had a child the same age as Everly. Viviana Rodriguez was exploring whether researchers had found any evidence to suggest they could repurpose existing drugs to reduce FRRS1L symptoms.

Everly Green, 8, lies next to her mother, Chrissy Green, as she reads to her at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

Through a “providential” series of events, one of Rodriguez’s contacts knew a doctor at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center who worked on gene therapies. That doctor had read a paper from a German researcher who bred mice with the FRSS1L mutation so he could study it. The German scientist had given the mice a gene therapy as part of his experiments, but his work wasn’t focused on the clinical applications, Green said.

Green and Rodriguez, along with a small group of other parents, formed the foundation to raise $400,000 for the UT Southwestern researchers to breed their own group of FRSS1L mice and give them a gene therapy in a study that was set up to show results. The mice that received the gene therapy had near-normal movement after it took effect, she said.

“We saw major recovery in the animals, so we’re really hopeful for our kids,” she said.

The next step was testing for toxic side effects, then finding a manufacturer who could do the complicated work of inserting the corrected gene into a harmless virus, Green said. If they can raise the necessary money and all goes as expected, children could receive their doses through a clinical trial starting in September, she said.

Colton Green, 9, pushes his sister Everly, 8, into the family’s living room at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

Many treatments that look promising in mice don’t pan out in humans. Even if they do, foundations must navigate the complex process of getting permission from the FDA to sell the treatment, Hackett said. Then they face the separate battle of convincing insurance companies, or national health systems serving patients in other countries, that they should pay for it, he said.

Theoretically, a foundation could keep a treatment in reserve for patients diagnosed with the FRSS1L mutation in the future, but that likely isn’t feasible, Hackett said.

“At the end, I think you have to turn it over to a commercial entity, and I don’t think anyone knows what that looks like,” he said.

Green is hopeful, however, that the treatment she’s trying to fund will not only help children like Everly, but also ease the path for future gene therapies.

“All the diseases can kind of help each other move forward,” she said.

Chrissy Green lifts her daughter Everly, 8, out of bed at their home in Fort Collins on Dec. 18, 2025. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)

“New York City’s experience demonstrates that large-scale carbon reduction is not only essential but entirely within reach.”

Solar panels at I.S. 007 Elias Bernstein, one of over 100 city schools with new solar arrays. (Photo via DCAS)

As the federal government retreats from taking meaningful action on the global climate crisis, cities and states must rise to the occasion and uphold our moral obligation to create a more sustainable world for future generations. I am proud to share that New York City government is leading by example in this critical mission. 

As New York City’s chief decarbonization officer, and a deputy commissioner at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS), it is my duty to lead the city government’s carbon reduction efforts. Our mandates are ambitious: Local Law 97 of 2019 requires us to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50 percent by 2030.  

Thanks to a transformative mobilization led by DCAS and partner agencies, the city is currently on track to reach the 50 percent reduction target ahead of our 2030 deadline. 

As cited in our Executive Order 89 report issued today, and in the New York City Greenhouse Gas Inventory, as of 2024, the city has reduced emissions 31 percent from the 2006 baseline. We’ve also reduced energy consumption in buildings by 16 percent over this same period. 

So, how did we get here in the face of numerous headwinds?  

The basis of this progress has depended—and still depends—on a holistic effort: we identified every source of emissions throughout the government and devised interventions aimed at maximizing the impact of taxpayer dollars to achieve our aggressive reduction targets. 

To start, we zeroed in on buildings, which are responsible for 70 percent of citywide greenhouse  gas emissions and are central to this work. We are replacing fossil fuel systems with electric ones, retrofitting equipment, upgrading lighting, improving operations, and  installing solar panels on city facilities, including our public schools. These improvements mean healthier indoor air, improved public spaces, and opportunities for students to learn about clean energy firsthand. 

The results speak for themselves. Since 2014, we have implemented over 17,500 energy  conservation measures across 2,500 city-owned buildings, culminating in 460,000 metric  tons of carbon dioxide equivalent reduced, the equivalent of removing over 100,000 cars off the road. These measures have also saved the city $150 million dollars in annual energy costs, proving that the public sector can make the economics of sustainability work at  scale. 

These efforts have also strengthened our public infrastructure and uplifted local communities—notably, 51 percent of projects have been in disadvantaged communities, ensuring the benefits of decarbonization flow equitably across the city.

Beyond buildings, the City of New York is investing in a cleaner electricity grid, which will serve all New Yorkers. Four years ago, DCAS entered into a contract with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to advance the Champlain Hudson Power Express, an energy infrastructure project that will deliver 1,250 megawatts of clean energy directly from Quebec to New York City and will cover 100 percent of the city government operations. 

This project will be transformational for our energy grid, estimated to supply 20 percent of the  power needed for the city, and is essential for meeting the clean energy supply needs of both city government and the private sector. We expect to begin enjoying the benefits of  this project in the spring. 

New cogeneration Plant Fluid Cooler at the Bronx Zoo, completed as an  efficiency upgrade project between DCAS, NYPA, and WCS. (Photo via DCAS)

As we look toward the city’s longer-term commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050, there is  no doubt that challenges remain. Issues with the supply chain continue to affect equipment lead times, and the closure of the Indian Point Energy Facility in 2021 increased reliance on fossil fuels for the city’s electricity supply. The city has made great strides in reforming its procurement, but the process continues to take longer than we would like; and all this work continues to take  place in a tight budgetary environment.  

More recently, existing challenges have been compounded by the federal government’s passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” act, which repeals a critical tax credit for solar systems, in addition to new tariffs, which drive up costs across the board. 

Yet despite these obstacles, New York City is pressing forward. DCAS is working to accelerate all of our efforts to speed up project delivery, invest in our green workforce across city agencies, electrify our buildings and fleet, and invest in solar and storage to strengthen the grid. 

When we began this journey over six years ago, our success was not guaranteed, and many  aspects of the mission were clouded by uncertainty. However, the progress we’ve made and the momentum we continue to build are the result of strong commitments from  leadership, a unifying citywide approach that prioritizes collaboration and accountability, and a spirit of innovation and continuous improvement.  

New York City’s experience demonstrates that large-scale carbon reduction is not only essential but entirely within reach. The path forward is clear; cities can win the climate fight. They just need the collective will to pursue it. 

Sana Barakat is New York City’s chief decarbonization officer and the deputy commissioner for energy management at the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

The post Opinion: Cities Can Win the Climate Fight. NYC is Setting the Stage.  appeared first on City Limits.