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What to do with the tree after the New Year holidays? New Year's signs

Ancient and modern New Year signs and superstitions of our ancestors and not only. It will be interesting to read, probably, to everyone: both those who believe and those who do not.

Probably, all of us on New Year's holidays at least a little, but still believe in a miracle, it must happen, and the wish made at midnight will certainly come true! Yes, thoughts materialize, so you need to tune in to the positive, believe in a miracle and make your most secret wishes on New Year's Eve.

New Year's signs and superstitions

  • Before the New Year holidays, you should do a general cleaning at home: wash all floors, shelves and cabinets from dirt and dust, wash chandeliers and lamps, vacuum carpets and rugs, throw out chipped (cracked) and broken dishes).
  • Before the New Year, you need to pay off all your old debts, as well as ask for forgiveness from everyone and forgive yourself.
  • Dishes on the New Year's table should be a symbol of material prosperity for the next year.
  • It is advisable to have a charm or amulet on New Year's Eve, which you can even make with your own hands. For example, an embroidered shirt or a donated pendant can serve as a talisman.
  • Grain in the old days was a symbol of prosperity, so the bride and groom were sprinkled with grain and money on their wedding day, the same was true for the New Year holidays.
  • There is such a sign “As you celebrate the New Year, so you will spend it,” so you need to get rid of everything old, unnecessary and broken in advance and celebrate the holiday in new clothes, cheerfully and amicably, then next year will be the same.
  • Before the holiday itself, you do not need to take out dirty linen from the hut, you should do it in advance.
  • Before you throw away the pieces of the broken glass toy that hung on the Christmas tree, you need to make an unusual wish. It will definitely come true.
  • When taking the Christmas tree out of the house after the New Year holidays, you should say: “Failure down, the Christmas tree to rest, but I’m going to my house. May it be so".
  • This is a family holiday, so it would be a great idea to invite all your family to celebrate the holiday together on the 31st or the next day.
  • Fallen tree needles or pine needles do not need to be thrown away. With a cold, you can pour a glass of such needles with a liter of boiling water, leave for 3 hours and add to the bath. Taking a bath, you will feel the real healing aroma of the forest. But this can only be done if you are sure that the pine did not grow near the road and was not sold near the road, and that the tree is 100% environmentally friendly. Also, you should first consult with your doctor whether it is right for you to take such baths.
  • And there is also such a sign: on the night of January 13-14, you need to put your cherished desire written on paper under the New Year tree or pine tree. At noon on the 14th, you need to burn a piece of paper. Desires will surely come true.
  • If you light candles on New Year's Eve, then the wax (stearin) remaining after the burning of the candle should be collected and then a new candle made from it. In case of illness or spleen, you need to light such a candle and look at its flame. The needed healing will come.
  • Put a stool in the place where your Christmas tree or pine stood. And now sit down on it for at least 10-15 minutes. All negativity will leave you. True, it is believed that this place has magical properties only a day after the removal of the Christmas tree, so hurry up, do not miss the chance to get rid of bad energy!

  • The last decoration (be it a Christmas toy, rain, or something like that) that you removed from the Christmas tree is a powerful and reliable amulet for the whole year. You need to hang or put it in the place of the apartment or house where it will be most needed.
  • On the Old New Year (the night of January 13-14), according to the ancient traditions and customs of our glorious ancestors, the hostess must bake pork and bake pies. Be sure the hostess of the house must cook porridge on New Year's Eve according to the old style. There were traditional signs and superstitions about porridge. For example, porridge crawling out of a pot foreshadowed trouble. Good and rich porridge promised a prosperous year. In the morning, the resulting porridge was eaten, and the bad one was thrown away.
  • In the old days, it was a tradition to entangle table legs with ropes so that no one left the family next year, everyone lived together without quarrels.
  • Throwing a Christmas tree out of a window or from a balcony is a bad omen. You need to take it out and stick it in the snow.
  • Strangers should not be given credit before the New Year for any items related to fire (a torch in ancient times lit from a hearth, nowadays matches or lighters).
  • The fire of the hearth is very important and earlier it had to burn all New Year's Eve. Now it can be an ordinary night lamp (night light) or a Christmas tree garland. At the same time, observe the safety regulations!
  • It is advisable to celebrate the New Year in something new, so that there will be prosperity all next year.
  • Many people think that it is not worth sleeping on a festive night so as not to miss anything in the coming year.
  • New Year should be met with money and without debts.
  • For happiness to be in the house, a man must enter it first.
  • Cleaning on January 1 will bring losses, so this is not recommended.
  • Splashes of champagne or its foam on New Year's Eve - to wealth! So if splashes or foam of champagne hit you on this fabulous holiday, this is only for the best.

Have a good New Year's holidays!

Let's get sad. Every year in Russia, more than 1 million firs are cut down, and where do they all go? First - to our house, and then - to guard the trash cans. Do they deserve such a life? After all, these coniferous helpers produce oxygen for us, and we do not spare them a bit. So if you could not refuse a full-fledged New Year's atmosphere and replace a real spruce with an artificial one, then let's at least try to extend its life. That's exactly what we're going to talk about today.

For gardeners

Of course, an experienced gardener knows all the pros and cons of coniferous trees used specifically for the garden, but do you know how spruce helps? Let's find out.

Spruce needles as fertilizer

Spruce trees are suitable for fertilizing plants that love acidic soil. Sunflower, tulip, rose, forget-me-not, zinnia and many others. If you have a huge number of flowers in the garden, then fertilizer from the needles will help each of them bloom.

Mulch

What is it anyway? Mulch is a soil cover that is laid on top of the ground. The materials for it are quite simple: grass, chopped leaves, straw and hay, spruce is great. Mulch is used to retain moisture in the soil, keeping it cool. If you decide to use coniferous needles, then this type of coating will also please you and repel the pest. Now unwanted guests will bypass your garden.

Christmas tree for weed control

For home

In addition to the decorative purpose, spruce needles will also cope with a number of wonderful things that will help you in everyday life and bring joy.

Stoke the fireplace with spruce branches

If you have a fireplace at home, you can say twice lucky. What could be better than pouring a cup of cocoa or mulled wine on a cold winter evening, taking your favorite book, throwing a warm blanket over your shoulders and sitting by the fireplace? Is it possible to add notes of New Year's mood using fir branches. The aroma of this wonderful needles will spread around the room and it will seem that the New Year holidays do not end. Eh, someone's lucky.

Sachet of their conifers

Wonderful fragrant pillows are gaining popularity every year. They are great as a replacement for conventional store-bought air fresheners. Environmentally friendly and safe, have disinfectant properties and even increase immunity. So, if a Christmas tree appeared at home, do not rush to say goodbye to it. It doesn't take much to make these pillows. You will need spruce needles, which need to be finely chopped, and a small fabric pad (you can sew 2 shreds together). Such a sachet will serve you for 3 months, and then you can either throw it away, or soak it in essential oils and use it further.

Air freshener for the kitchen

In general, the kitchen is a place of accumulation of different smells, ranging from pleasant to not very pleasant. What has no place in the kitchen is chemical flavors. That is why a good solution would be to use the remaining spruce branches and needles. You can hang a sachet of conifers or hang sprigs of spruce on a beautiful ribbon.

If you urgently need to eliminate an unpleasant smell, for example, burning, use this life hack. Put a pot of water on the stove, add pine needles and wait until it boils, then reduce the heat. The smell of spruce will quickly spread throughout the apartment and eliminate the unpleasant odor.

Furniture polishing

Those who often have to polish furniture know how unsafe it is due to the chemical composition of the product used for polishing.

From the Christmas tree after the holidays, you can make a budget and non-toxic furniture product. Collect the needles and put them in a jar, then pour 9% vinegar (you can use apple cider vinegar) and leave for 3 weeks in a dark, cool place. After the time has elapsed, check if the mixture has fermented (this is impossible with proper storage) and, if everything is in order, pour the product into a sprayer when using it, polish the furniture, and put the rest back. This tool is quite popular with the older generation.

For health

To be healthy means to be happy. You definitely can't argue with this. Since ancient times, instead of pills, everyone was treated with infusions of herbs, berries, and they considered such treatment to be the most correct and useful. Pine needles are still a popular remedy for maintaining health and tone, and are also often used for cosmetic purposes. How can needles help? Let's find out.

Spruce Foot Flavor

Everyone's feet smell, and there's no getting around it. The best flavors are those that contain natural oils and a minimum of chemicals. But to find such a tool is quite difficult, so it's best to make it yourself. For this you will need: spruce branches and needles, cinnamon sticks, lemon or orange essential oil. Put all the ingredients in a jar, fill with hot water and leave to infuse in a dark, cool place for 5 or 6 days. Then strain the infusion and pour into a convenient container with a sprayer.

Shoe hack: If your shoes start to smell bad, put a pillow filled with pine needles and essential oil in them and leave them overnight. The sachet will absorb all the moisture and eliminate the unpleasant odor. This tool can be used 5-6 times.

Get rid of sweaty feet

Many are faced with this problem, and spruce branches and needles will also come to the rescue here. Soak some pine needles in a bowl of hot water, add a couple of drops of essential oil, let it cool a little and lower your legs. 15-20 minutes of this procedure several times a week will create a cumulative effect, your legs will sweat less, and in addition, the growth of bacteria and fungus will stop.

A decoction of pine needles for a bath

A decoction of pine needles perfectly tones and soothes the skin, and it is quite easy to prepare. 5-6 hours before taking a bath, you need to throw coniferous branches and needles into cold water, bring to a boil on the stove, then turn it off and let it brew for a couple of hours. Later, it will remain to pour this decoction into the already dialed bath - and you can dive. Not only will you soothe your skin, but you will also smell a scent that will please everyone.

Hair hack: you can also rinse your hair with this decoction. Mix it with water in proportions of 2 to 1 (more decoction) and after washing your hair with shampoo, rinse your head. Such an infusion will give shine and softness to the hair, and with prolonged use it will strengthen them.

If you still could not refuse a real Christmas tree, then let's give it a 2nd life. Let it please us not only on New Year's holidays, but also for some time after, bringing maximum benefit. And most importantly - do not forget: 1 tree was cut down, 2 planted.

Editorial response

After the celebration of the New Year and Christmas, a huge number of yellowed and crumbling firs appear on the streets of Russian cities. People leave the forest beauties at the dumpsters, at the entrances or in the snowdrifts near the house.

How are Christmas trees disposed of in Russia?

In our country, the “correct” disposal of Christmas trees is not yet too developed. In most cases, Christmas trees are sent to a landfill or incinerator, as they are considered bulky waste. But the housing and communal services sector has a choice - they can conclude an agreement with companies for the removal and disposal of garbage, which take spruce trees to special facilities and store them, and after ten years, humus is obtained from them. Other companies have special machines - tree crushers that turn trees into sawdust. These sawdust are distributed to summer residents who use them as fertilizer. Spruces can also be used as fuel for wood waste boilers.

Christmas trees after the holidays are also accepted in city zoos. Trees serve as food for ungulates and some birds. However, zoos do not take bare trunks, it is necessary that the trees have needles.

It is interesting that last year a useful application for Christmas trees was found in Tomsk - New Year's trees after the holidays went to feed livestock. The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Protection of the Tomsk Region held a campaign to collect Christmas trees. The townspeople could take the Christmas trees back to the Christmas tree markets, from where the workers of the Tomsk plant organized them and then fed the cows with the collected needles.

The original idea in 2012 came to the mind of the employees of one of the management companies of Stavropol. They offered the residents of the city to exchange Christmas trees for palm trees in pots. For this, one hundred palm trees were purchased. The townspeople received them as a gift, and the collected coniferous trees were used to feed mountain goats and bedding for animals in the zoo. At the same time, the management company managed to save on the collection and removal of trees, because people brought them themselves.

In 2009, the Kremlin tree also went for processing, and not to a landfill - it was sawn into boards.

Useful uses of the Christmas tree

Don't throw the tree out on the street; it's better to take it to a zoo or a farm. Needles diversify the diet of animals and will serve as bedding for them. If you decide to take the spruce to the zoo, before that you need to carefully clean it from rain and tinsel.

If you have a dacha or a country house, a Christmas tree can come in handy in order to heat the stove in winter. The tree in the country can also be used to make mulch. The wood must be chopped into chips, and then sprinkled with these chips on the ground near the trees and flowers in the garden or in the garden. This will help protect plants from death, prevent soil erosion and get rid of weeds. In addition, a tree trunk can be sawn into several parts and a border for flower beds can be made from the resulting rounds.

Spruce needles contain many healthy substances and vitamins, so it is used to treat various diseases. So, coniferous inhalations help with bronchitis. You need to take 200 grams of spruce branches, put them in a saucepan and pour boiling water. Then you need to cover yourself with a towel and inhale the steam coming from the needles.

Spruce paste can be prepared to cure colds and coughs. You need to take 300 grams of chopped pine needles, 200 grams of honey and 50 grams of propolis. Mix everything and store in the refrigerator. Take 1 tablespoon of the paste 3 times a day before meals with warm water.

A homemade mattress stuffed with spruce needles will help get rid of joint pain. To prevent the mattress from pricking, it is necessary to put a woolen blanket on top.

However, if you still decide to throw out the Christmas tree, use the advice of AiF.ru,.

How do they deal with spruces in foreign countries?

Abroad, the disposal of Christmas trees is more common and better organized. Europeans and Americans have found a lot of ways to use them so as not to pollute the environment.

In many US cities, after the holidays, spruce can be handed over to a recycling center. Coniferous trees are used in America to make paper and cat litter.

In Sweden, Christmas trees are burned in boiler houses, thanks to which more than 10% of the country's population is heated at home. In the Scandinavian countries, spruces are also taken to furniture factories and made into furniture.

In Austria, fuel briquettes are made from Christmas trees, and in Germany, wooden butter knives. In addition, in some countries, spruces are composted for city parks and are even used in the production of anti-flu drugs.

WHAT TO DO WITH THE TREE AFTER THE NEW YEAR? “And here she is, dressed up, came to us for a holiday! ..” ... and she doesn’t want to leave, but she has to. It is better to part with the forest beauty before the number of needles under the tree and on it is equal. A banal way of recycling is decorating a garbage container. But it's a pity! A tree grew somewhere, was cut down, meticulously selected, dressed up and ... an inglorious end? Somehow this is wrong. Looking for an alternative? SOAP REINCARNATION The craze for soap making was not in vain - the Internet is full of recipes for making various cosmetics. The coniferous theme prevails. So, what does it take to turn a former Christmas tree into future soap? Transparent base, alcohol, essential oils, molds for hardening and many, many needles. The latter are ground with a coffee grinder. The resulting Christmas tree mass is poured into a container with a soap base and mixed. 5-6 drops of fir oil and a dye are also added there, if the final product needs to be given a green color (without the use of additives, the soap will have a yellowish-brown tint). The mushy substance is poured into molds and sprayed with alcohol from a spray bottle. Well, then it's a matter of time - we patiently wait until it hardens - and use it. In continuation of the bath theme: if soap making is not your strong point, but you want to diversify water procedures, take coniferous baths. One kilogram of needles, five liters of water and thirty minutes of boiling. Natural, fragrant, sedative. The only "but": do not overdo it with the temperature, the water in the bathroom should not be higher than 37-38 degrees. In addition, experts recommend limiting the Christmas tree soaking procedure to fifteen minutes. However, even in such a short time period, you are guaranteed maximum relaxation. ONE, TWO, THREE, FIR-TREE, BURN With the water element sorted out - let's turn to the fiery one. No, we will not make a fire from flammable tree species, although the spectacle is worth it. Let's take the safe route. How about keeping the scent of the tree after it's gone? Sounds tempting? Then we will proceed to the magical procedure - the manufacture of incense. It's simple: dry needles are crushed to a powder state, then a binding component is added to them - gum arabic and combustible - makko (it is obtained from the bark of the Machilus thunbergii tree growing in Japan, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and Laos). The resulting mixture is diluted with distilled water. The output should be a soft and viscous mass, which is “rolled” into bamboo sticks, achieving a uniform coating. The final stage is drying. Ready? Set fire! FROM THEORY TO PRACTICE And they made soap and incense ... they looked around, and there was a mess around. In a creative impulse, they forgot about accuracy, you will have to pay for unscheduled cleaning. “And what about the Christmas tree theme?” - you ask. And despite the fact that you have a chance to try out a natural floor cleaner. The concentrate is easy to prepare. You will need half a glass of soap shavings, a quarter cup of laundry soda, a glass of salt and two glasses of coniferous broth. Everything is heated until the ingredients are dissolved, cooled and used as needed during cleaning (three to four tablespoons are added to a bucket of water before starting the process). Experienced housewives recommend not to be lazy and after the “pine” baths, rinse the floors a second time - with water and vinegar. They say the effect is amazing. Experiment! FIR-TREE: SEVEN-ROOM MANSIONS ARE OPTIONAL Well, suppose you tried that too. Plus - a new experience, minus - fatigue. Will we restore strength? From time immemorial, it was believed that a decoction of pine needles perfectly mobilizes the reserve funds of the body. Our grandmothers treated them with everything: from beriberi to bronchitis. But maybe the older generation had a penchant for self-hypnosis? Check the effectiveness yourself. The potion is easy to prepare: the needles are cut with scissors, poured with boiling water and infused in a thermos for two to ten hours, then the liquid is drained through a sieve, and honey and lemon are added to the resulting broth to taste. We don’t know about the healing properties, but the taste should be very good: in the process of typing, the keyboard almost dripped with saliva. As you cook, be sure to share your feelings with us: what it's like to drink a Christmas tree! FINALLY A PAIR OF FOREIGN "LIFE HACKS" Colleagues from behind the hillock have rich experience in utilizing pine trees. For example, in Germany, national wooden butter knives are made from old pine trees, which are subsequently sold to tourists for a lot of money - why not enterprising? And the Swedes rent forest beauties to city boiler houses, where they are burned for the benefit of everyone around. In Austria, Christmas trees are crushed and pressed into fuel briquettes, in Canada they are turned into compost. In the US, Christmas trees are used to make ... cat litter. I won’t say that this option is better than that described at the very beginning of the article, but, whatever one may say, this is a “second life”. In recent years, active work has been carried out to popularize the idea of ​​using artificial Christmas trees in the New Year. But a large percentage of the population still prefers to participate in the annual "weeding" of coniferous plantations. And since we are not ready for the transformation of the mentality, maybe we will try to at least get the maximum benefit from the bad habit of destroying a tree every year? And even if you are just a beginner in the process of transforming holiday trees into everyday usefulness - the main thing is to start moving in the right direction! Reade set Go!