Recycle Your Tree
This year, the actual “chipping” of Christmas trees will not take place at Washington Square Park but you can drop your tree off at the park until Sunday, January 8th. Trees will be picked up and ‘chipped’ for mulch elsewhere. There are numerous locations throughout the five boroughs to drop off your trees. The mulch is used to “nourish” other city trees and put to good use. According to the city’s Parks Department, last year, 50,600 trees were recycled.
Remember to remove all lights, ornaments, and netting before bringing the tree to a Mulchfest site or leaving out for collection.
Alternatives
If you can’t make it to Mulchfest, the NYC Department of Sanitation will be conducting curbside collections for mulching and recycling of Christmas trees from Friday, January 6 through Saturday, January 14, 2023. For more information, visit DSNY’s Curbside Collections website.
I’m a little conflicted on Christmas trees tho’ admittedly they make the holiday season festive. If I did have one, I would keep the tree as long as possible. It feels sad when people put them out on the street the next day!
I side with Phoebe from “Friends” watching the trees go through the “chipper” – see video below – but this fate is better than ending up in a landfill. The trees are chopped into wood chips which are used to nourish trees and plantings citywide.
DSNY suggests the following on how to make your own mulch: “cut off the smaller branches of your Christmas tree and remove the twigs from evergreen boughs. Lay three to four inches of these trimmings over the bare soil around street trees or in your garden.”
A Look Back:
Check out these photos of Mulchfest and this time of year park happenings in 2014 here.
Photo: Cathryn