Treecycling a Major Step in Greening Your Holidays

Thousands of treecycling events are already getting started. Use Earth911.com to find out where you can recycle your tree. Photo: Flickr/sdminor81

As fast as the holidays came, they are over just as quickly. The wrapping paper has settled, the last of the cookies consumed and the bottle of champagne emptied. Now, cleaning up is the new priority.

Part of holiday cleanup entails taking down the Christmas tree and recycling it. This year, Earth911 is making treecycling easier than ever with its largest effort yet by compiling the nation’s most comprehensive Treecycling Directory.

Real Christmas trees are a renewable resource and can be recycled a number of ways, including chipping trees for use as mulch in community areas, erosion protection in fragile areas such as river deltas, underwater habitat creation and shoreline stabilization.

Make sure to check out the rules of your treecycling options before you go. Most programs ask that all your decor (tinsel, lights, ornaments, etc.) are removed ahead of time.

This year, Earth911′s expert team collected treecycling information for more than 85 percent of the U.S. population, reaching out to every city with a population of more than 30,000. As of our last count, the team contacted 54 percent more cities over 2009 and increased the number of treecycling records by almost 75 percent.

Basically, this research means that all the information you need to make sure you do the right thing with your tree is right here. Not only is information about curbside services available, but also information for drop-off locations that apartment dwellers and businesses can utilize.

This extensive outreach is supported by the Earth911 Treecycle Program and the dedicated growers who participated this season to support the communication of treecycling events around the country. The Earth911 Treecycle Program grew rapidly in prominence this year, as the nation’s largest retailer mandated that all the live trees it sold must have the Earth911 Treecycle Tag.

Well, what are you waiting for? Get to it!

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