Around the region, it's time for holiday cleanup.
Beginning Tuesday, residents in Prince George's County can place their trees, completely undecorated and unbagged at curbside and they will be collected on residents' regularly scheduled collection day, which is a yard waste day.
Instead of merely throwing the trees away, however, workers scoop up used Christmas trees, take them to the county's composting facility, and turn them into mulch. The county then turns around and distributes the mulch to residents for Earth Day on April 20.
"We're giving our trees back to our residents, but we're also taking that natural product and giving it another natural use," says Denice Curry is an environmental planner with Department of Environmental Resources in Prince George's County.
Sure, we missed out on a white Christmas. But Curry says you can still make it a green one.
Check with your local township or county government to see if they offer tree recycling. Here are some places that have programs:
Holiday trees and wreaths in Washington D.C. will be picked up curbside from January 3 to January 14. Residents are instructed to remove all decorations and place the greenery in the treebox space in front of their homes between Monday, January 2, and Monday, January 9. Trees collected between January 3 and 14 will be recycled.
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Prince William County residents can drop off holiday greenery at the Prince William County Landfill, at 14811 Dumfries Road, on Monday through Saturday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or at the Prince William County Compost Facility at 13000 Balls Ford Road between 7:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. For more information call 703-792-4670
Leesylvania State Park, 2001 Daniel Ludwig Drive, Woodbridge, will accept trees for recycling in the field area between shelter two and the main road.
Rockville's Department of Public Works will collect Christmas trees as part of its regular recycling collection. The trees will be taken to the Montgomery County Recycling Center, where they will become mulch.
The Town of Leesburg’s solid waste collection contractor, CSI, will collect non-artificial Christmas trees from residential customers as part of their regular recycling collection on the following days: Southeast & Southwest Quadrants - January 5 & January 12; Northeast & Northwest Quadrants - January 6 & January 13.
The Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative will accept Christmas greens at its Gainesville office at 5399 Wellington Branch Drive, near the intersection of U.S. 29 and Interstate 66. Customers can leave their greenery in the front parking lot in the area, designated by orange safety cones, anytime from Monday through Jan. 11.
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