Make it a green holiday: Recycle!
December 28, 2014As the end of the holiday season draws near, there’s one more gift you can give: recycling your trees, boxes, wrapping paper, greeting cards and even electrical devices — like that string of lights that never works right.
Christmas trees can be reused in a number of ways you’d probably never even thought about. If you bought a live one that’s potted or balled and burlaped, you can plant it. Cut trees can be turned into mulch and, in costal communities, are often used to keep sand from washing off beaches and dunes. According to an Associated Press article on Lehigh Valley Live, beaches along the New Jersey shore were rebuilt with Christmas trees after Superstorm Sandy, as were beaches in the Rockaways, New York.
Big trees — like the on in New York City’s Rockefeller Center — can be turned into lumber. New York City’s tree was donated to Habitat for Humanity, a tradition the Associated Press says started in 2007, when it helped build a home in Pascagoula, Miss., after Hurricane Katrina.
What about that sad old artificial tree that’s on its last leg? Polygroup, a plastics manufacturer, accepts strings of lights, cords, and artificial trees. Ship them to:
Recycling Center
651 S. Stratford, Suite 100
Meridian, ID 83642
For more information on your community’s curbside tree pickup program, or to find out where to take a tree, visit the following web sites:
According to Lehigh Valley Live, Allentown’s yard waste site, 1401 Oxford Drive, will be open 10 a.m. to noon Jan. 3, Feb. 7 and March 7 (weather permitting). Electronics recycling will be available on those dates. Computers, keyboards, monitors, electronics, printers, scanners, laptops and televisions will be accepted. One projection TV or two regular TVs can be dropped off per day.
We at LCA hope your holiday season was truly happy, and we wish you a prosperous and healthy new year. We hope you resolve to recycle more, waste less, and, as always, conserve water.