Recycle your holiday tree

Between now and January 17th you can recycle your holiday tree by dropping it off at any of twenty-three Chicago parks. Our closest drop-off points are the "tree corrals" at the Boat House at Humboldt park, 1369 N. Sacramento Blvd. and at Garfield Park, 100 N. Central Park Ave. Other locations can be had by dialing 3-1-1 or going to city website and searching on "recycle tree"

The trees will be turned into mulch and used throughout the year as ground cover on city and park property. Please remove all ornaments and tinsel from the tree as glass, plastic and foil do not make for a good mulch mix.

Since this program's inception twenty years ago more than 125,000 trees have been kept out of the waste stream and last year 11, 513 trees were mulched. Leaving your tree in the alley for Streets & San to pick up ensures that it will end up in a landfill.

For other ideas on what to do with your holiday tree, see my article from last year.