Every year, people take the time to put up and decorate their Christmas trees for the holiday season. According to tradition, these trees are put up at the beginning of Advent (which is the fourth Sunday before Christmas), although some people put up their trees right after Thanksgiving.

While most people will take down their trees after the season has ended, there are quite a few who leave up their Christmas trees for far too long. Fortunately, January 6th has been designated as National Take Down Your Christmas Tree Day — a holiday that reminds everyone to take down their trees.

The History Of National Take Down The Christmas Tree Day

Many people already know that Christmas trees go back a long time; they just might not know exactly how long. The practice of using symbolic evergreens was common in ancient Egypt and Roman traditions, but it was taken to a whole other level in Germanic traditions. Germans would light evergreens with candles, and this practice was eventually brought to the U.S. during the 19th century.

Now that we understand where Christmas trees come from, it’s time to talk about the origins of National Take Down Your Christmas Tree Day. This holiday was created by Jace Shoemaker-Galloway, an author and freelance writer. She placed the holiday on January 6th because that’s the 12th Day of Christmas. The 12 Days of Christmas run from December 25th to the Epiphany on January 6th.

Some Fun Christmas & Christmas Tree Facts

Okay, now that we’re on the subject of Christmas and Christmas trees, let’s take a few moments to talk about some of the facts that we’ve learned on these subjects during our intensive research process. Let’s take a quick peek at them before moving on with our discussion.

• One of the first publicly decorated Christmas trees known about was in Riga, Latvia, in the 16th century.
• In 1851, the first commercial Christmas tree lot was started in New York.
• Discarded Christmas trees can be turned into wildlife habitats or mulch.

Observing National Take Down The Christmas Tree Day

On this day, everyone is urged to take down their Christmas tree. Please take it down and put it away if it’s a fake tree, or dispose of it properly if it’s a real tree. There’s no reason why anyone should keep their Christmas tree past this date.

If you need help taking down your tree, invite friends and family members over for one last “party” of the year. And while you’re taking down your Christmas tree, be sure to use the hashtag #TakeDownYourChristmasTreeDay on social media.