Don't just toss your old Christmas tree after New Years! Mulch it! At some locations you can bring a large bag or several and walk away with useful mulch for the garden. This is part of the "Mulchfest" that's organized by the New York City Parks Department. And in a stroke of genius, they're calling this not recycling, but TREE-cycling. Good ol' Brooklyn humor....

MulchFest isia;;u takes place on Saturday and Sunday of the second week in January.

So take a gander, because it's something to see, and an educational moment about recycling for the kids. Bring a cup of coffee and hang around for awhile watching those machines gobble up entire trees! (OK, it's fun even for adults...). There's a roar of machinery, the perfume of pine, and a pleasing symmetry of a diminishing pile of trees balanced by a growing pile of mulch.

Gardeners can also retrieve some mulch for spring planting.

As many as 17,000 Christmas trees citywide are recycled every year, according to the NYC Parks Department.

WHERE TO GO IN BROOKLYN

Here are standard Brooklyn MulchFest locations:

Note that there are two kinds of locations: places to drop off, and places where there's actual mulching going on.

• The Amazing Garden Columbia Street at Carroll Street. Drop off only
• Brower Park at Brooklyn Avenue at Prospect Place. Chipping
• Cobble Hill Park* at Verandah Place & Clinton Street. Chipping
• Coffey Park at Dwight Street & Verona Street. Drop-off only
• Fort Greene Park* at Washington Park & Willoughby Avenue. Chipping

• Green-Wood Cemetery at 25th Street & 4th Avenue. Drop-off only
• Lincoln Terrace Park at Buffalo Avenue between East New York Avenue & Eastern Parkway. Drop-off only
• Maria Hernandez Park at Knickerbocker Avenue & Suydam Street. Drop-off only
• Marine Park* at Avenue U & East 33rd Street. Chipping
• McCarren Park* at Driggs Avenue & Lorimer Street. Chipping
• McGolrick Park at Monitor Street & Driggs Avenue. Drop-off only
• Owl's Head Park* at Colonial Road & 68th Street. Chipping
• Prospect Heights Community Garden* at 252-256 St. Marks Avenue. Drop-off only
• Prospect Park* at Third Street at Prospect Park West. Chipping
• Prospect Park Circle* at Parkside Avenue & Prospect Park Southwest. Chipping
• Sunset Park at 44th Street & 6th Avenue. Drop-off only.
• Sutter Playground between Sutter and Belmont Aves. Drop-off only.

*You can get biodegradable bags and take home free mulch provided at sites marked with an asterisk (*).

 The NYC Department of Sanitation also runs special curbside collections  for mulching and recycling of Christmas trees for about two weeks after Christmas Day.

Get details here.