Chip in: Recycle your Christmas trees into wood chips that will nourish trees and plants on NYC streets, gardens and parks at MulchFest 2019.
Give your tree back to the land, instead of adding it to the landfill.
There are giant chippers in NYC parks in all five boroughs waiting to munch – er mulch – your holiday tree, including Mulchfest weekend, Jan. 12/13.
Leave your holiday tree on the sidewalk to be picked up by Dept. of Sanitation trucks.
Bring it to a designated drop-off site.
Either way, your tree will be mulched into protective bits to cover NYC tree beds, plant beds and more.
Important – Your tree must be naked to be recycled.
That means removing all ornaments, tinsel, wiring, even the stand. It also means no wrapping it in a plastic bag.
More than 25,000 trees were mulched at Mulchfest 2018 last January, and the NYC Dept. of Parks hopes to beat that number this year.
You can watch – it’s a great recycling lesson for the kids – and even take home a bag of chips for your own backyard garden or sidewalk tree.
MulchFest 2019 is between Friday, Jan. 4 and Sunday, Jan. 13, at 68 drop-off sites in parks and gardens throughout the five boroughs.
So there’s sure to be a location near you and your tree.
On the final weekend , January 12/13, you will be able to take home mulch from 31 different chipping sites.
There are too many to mention, so we are directing you to the NYC Parks Dept. list of mulching sites, where you can search by borough to find the closest, most convenient location for you and your tree.
The website also lists dozens of drop-off locations where you can leave your tree, to be mulched in your absence.
If you don’t want to wait that long to recycle your holiday tree, the NYC Department of Sanitation also is conducting special curbside collections for mulching and recycling of Christmas trees for ten days, from Friday, Jan. 2 through Jan 12, 2019.
Preparing you tree for trash or mulching
Do not wrap your tree in a plastic bag, since that will mark it as ordinary trash to be discarded along with broken toys and other garbage.
Whether you mulch your tree or leave it for trash, be sure to remove all ornaments, lights and stands, otherwise it can’t be chipped and will be treated like ordinary trash.
Also be sure to remove ornaments, lights and stands even if you are leaving your holiday tree on the sidewalk for Dept. of Sanitation pick-up.
How to recycle fake trees
Donate or sell used fake trees in good condition at donateNYC.
Set out fake trees that are mostly metal or rigid plastic, next to your recycling container on regular recycling day(s).
As with real trees, remove all lights, ornaments and tinsel before placing at the curb.
Editor’s Note –
This posting has been published annually since 2015, updated each year with the latest information.
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