City Encourages Residents to Recycle Christmas Trees for Coastal Restoration

NEW ORLEANS — The City of New Orleans will continue its Christmas tree recycling program in an effort to restore and protect the Louisiana coastline. Orleans Parish residents are encouraged to recycle their Christmas trees by placing them at the location of their regular garbage collection before 5 a.m. on their regularly scheduled second collection day that occurs between Jan. 7-9, 2021, for properties serviced by Richard’s Disposal and Metro Service Group. Properties in the French Quarter or DDD, serviced by Empire Services, should place their trees at the location of their regular garbage collection, before 4 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2021.  

Only natural, unflocked trees that are free of tree stands and all trimmings (decorations, ornaments, tinsel and lights) will be collected for recycling. Flocked, artificial trees, trees in bags, or trees with unremoved trimmings will be collected with garbage and transported to the landfill. Trees are not to be placed on the neutral ground, as this delays the collection process.  

Working collaboratively, the City’s Department of Sanitation; waste management contractors Metro Service Group, Richard’s Disposal and Empire Services; the City’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and the Louisiana National Guard will collect, sort and bundle the recycled trees. They will then be placed in selected coastal zones to restore wetlands lost to erosion and the sinking of the land (subsidence).  

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In 2019, more than 6,000 Christmas trees were collected in Orleans Parish after the holidays and then airlifted by the Louisiana National Guard into the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge to create new marsh habitat. After the trees are dropped by helicopter, workers come by boat to move them to their final position. Over the course of this program, recycled Christmas trees have restored an area of marsh equal to almost 200 football fields. The trees also create important habitat for birds, fish, crabs, crawfish, and shrimp. 

Residents seeking more information should call NOLA 3-1-1.  

 

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