LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Now that Christmas is over, a way to give back to our community has returned.
Recycling your old Christmas tree could bring life to open spaces all across our valley, so before you toss your tree in the trash, a more environmentally friendly way is available.
The recycling program is open all hours of the day from Dec. 26 - Jan. 15.
“I think it’s something that we will try this year," said Las Vegas local of 33 years Jake Macias
Macias tells me he has never recycled his Christmas tree before.
“I think it’s a great idea. I’ve been walking in this park for the last, like I said, easily 30 years. I’ve seen the whole pile of trees, and I know they were recycling them," said Macias. "It’s something where they use it for mulch for the grass, for pots, for all kinds of stuff.”
Sunset Park is one of his favorite places, and he says he wants to help keep it looking great.
The Southern Nevada Christmas Tree Recycling Committee is a partnership of local businesses and community agencies.
They're the ones putting this recycling program together, and they've been doing so for nearly 30 years.
The chairperson of this committee, Tara Pike, tells me that mulch made from your recycled trees will go back into helping our community.
“Different chipping crews chip it," said Pike. “So the mulch is used in parks, right now a lot of it is getting used in school gardens. Mulch is great because it helps control dust and it also helps to conserve water."
Pike reminds everyone there are a few guidelines in order to recycle your tree.
First of all, organic (living) trees are the only ones that can be recycled. You can't bring an artificial tree to any of the drop-off locations.
You must remove all non-organic materials like lights, wires, tinsel, ornaments, nails, tree stands and any other materials not part of the tree.
Flocked (sprayed with artificial snow) trees cannot be recycled.
There are 30 drop-off locations now open across our valley. For a full list of all locations, click here. For a link to search which drop-off location is closest to you, click here.
If you can't drop your tree off at any of the locations, there's help.
“We do have a partner on the committee called Go Move It, and I want to say for $25.99, they will pick the tree up and bring it to a drop site for you," said Pike.
Pike says since 2001, when the committee started counting how many trees were recycled annually, they recycled nearly 320,000.
Pike says the largest amount of trees they recycled in one year was about 20,000.
Just last year, the committee says more than 11,700 trees were recycled, creating 102 tons of nutrient-rich mulch.
The mulch was used by local school gardens, in local parks, and made available to residents throughout the community. In the process, it spared landfills of more than 1,560 cubic yards of volume.
Macias says he'll be adding another one to that growing list.
“We’ll dump it here. It’s for a good cause," said Macias.
Several locations were just in the process of opening up their drop-off locations on Thursday. One of the locations that gets the most trees, Sunset Park, recycled around 2,000 trees last year. By 5 p.m. Thursday, there were a total of four people at that location.
Pike hopes more people will come by to help give back to our community.
