As the holiday season draws to a close, environmentally-conscious neighbors may be interested in two City programs to help residents dispose of their Christmas trees.
Tree-cycling
The New York City Department of Sanitation will begin its annual Christmas tree curbside collection on Tuesday, January 2 and will run through Saturday, January 13, 2018, weather permitting.
City residents should remove all stands, tinsel, lights and ornaments before putting trees out for collection. Clean, non-bagged Christmas trees left on the curb between Tuesday, January 2 and Saturday, January 13, will be chipped, mixed with leaves, and recycled into compost for the city’s parks, institutions and community gardens.
Those wishing to dispose of mostly plastic and metal imitation Christmas trees should remove all ornaments and put them out next to your recycling on regular recycling days.
MulchFest
NYC Parks provides additional options for tree-cycling via their annual MulchFest event which will be held on Saturday, January 6 and Sunday, January 7 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.at locations across the city. (The location closest to Prospect Heights will be at 3rd Street and Prospect Park West.) Participants may bring a bag to take home mulch for use in personal gardens.
Those not able to attend MulchFest can use NYC Parks’ drop-off sites, which are accepting trees Sunday, December 31 through Sunday, January 7. (The drop-off location in Prospect Heights is the Prospect Heights Community Farm, St. Marks Avenue between Vanderbilt Avenue and Underhill Avenue.)
To see all chipping and drop-off sites, click here. Remember to remove all lights, ornaments, decorations and netting from trees before attending the events.