Places to recycle your Christmas tree

RICHMOND HILL, Ga. (WTOC) - With the holidays ending, many are starting to take down their Christmas trees.

But instead of throwing it on the curb, some places in our area want you to recycle your tree.

Some people say they want to continue their tree’s purpose by recycling it.

“It’s a little grim. My wife and I had quite a long discussion on how long we were going to keep it up, but we pulled the trigger today,” Will Bennett said.

Several locations in the Coastal Empire and Lowcountry are giving people the option of recycling their tree instead of throwing it out. And truck after truck, people came to drop off their tree signaling the unofficial end to the holidays. But the start of a new life for their evergreen fir.

“We recycled it last year, recycled it this year, and plan to keep doing it,” Bennett said.

The trees can be ground up or used in ponds to help with various landscaping projects.

“I would much rather see it be used for something in the community rather than being on the side of the road or going to a landfill,” Bennett said.

Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport, Coligny Beach on Hilton Head and J.F. Gregory Park in Richmond Hill all have tree recycling drop offs.

“I wasn’t even sure they would pick it up for me on the curb. So, we’re used to doing that, we’ve always done it,” Earl Houghton said.

And while some were sad to see their tree go, others were looking forward to dropping it off.

“We’re ready to get it out of the house and get things back to normal and send it on to its next life,” Houghton said.

Organizers of the tree recycling expect to collect hundreds of trees. They just ask that you make sure that all the ornaments and lights are taken off before dropping them off.

Tree recycling collections end Jan. 7.

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