Before you know it, Christmas will have passed and it will be time to take down the decorations and to dispose of your cut Christmas tree, if you have one.
Some 33 million real Christmas trees are sold in North America each year, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Each one of them has to go somewhere. Treecycling, the act of recycling a Christmas tree, is the best way to return a renewable and natural source back to the environment instead of disposing it in a landfill, where decomposition rates are slowed due to lack of oxygen.
In Lexington, the city’s Division of Waste Management converts the trees, wreaths and other yard waste it collects into mulch, which is later given away free of charge to local residents.
Residents should place their tree on the curb on their collection day, along with their Herbie, Rosie and Lenny containers. Decorations and lights need to be removed from the tree before it is placed on the curb. Wreaths made of natural greenery and even pumpkins from the fall can be placed in your Lenny yard waste container.
You can get free mulch from the city by attending one of the mulch giveaways held on the second and third Saturdays in April, July and October. Residents can get a truck load of mulch per event. The mulch is distributed on a first-come, first-served basis.