Politics & Government

Curbside Christmas Tree Recycling, Canceled

Citing the blizzard, The Department of Sanitation called off curbside tree recycling this year

Weeks after Christmas, many sidewalks are still dotted with Christmas trees.

But residents who kicked their tree to the curb in hopes of minimizing their carbon footprint are in for a surprise: this year, all trees are going straight to the dump.

"Due to a backlog of recycling and garbage pick up we had to cancel it," said a Department of Sanitation spokesperson. "It was a decision made by the department."

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Thanks to New York City’s post-Christmas blizzard, the spokesperson said DSNY is unable to handle Christmas tree recycling, though other recycling has resumed.

The DSNY’s website still advertises that Christmas trees placed on the sidewalk will be recycled through Saturday, as part of the Department of Sanitation’s annual Christmas tree recycling program. But residents hoping to go green are simply out of luck. In addition to canceling curbside recycling, the city has scheduled no further dates this year.

Find out what's happening in Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hillwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some locals expressed dismay at the news.

"We could've gone to a local tree mulch session had we known," said Jennifer Perillo, a life-long Carroll Gardens resident in a tweet.

Luckily, the Parks Department in some cases has picked up where Sanitation left off. On Sunday, volunteers at the Amazing Garden on Columbia Street piled more than 15 trees on the curb after the conclusion of MulchFest, assuming they'd be recycled by Sanitation, just like every other year.

And somehow, those trees dodged the unfortunate fate that has likely come upon other curbside Christmas trees -- they were picked up this morning and mulched by the Parks Department.

A member of the Amazing Garden, Launa Beuhler, alerted other members by email this afternoon of the "good news."

"At least most of the trees got recycled into mulch," she wrote.


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