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Gather Ye Yuletide Trees For The Annual Mulchfest
By
Sophia Chang
Published Dec 26, 2020
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NYC Parks / D. Avila
By
Sophia Chang
Published Dec 26, 2020
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Now that Christmas has come and gone, let Mulchfest commence.
The city’s Parks Department will begin grinding up, or mulching, Christmas trees starting Saturday through January 9th at 67 drop-off sites around the city.
The next two Saturdays - January 2nd and 9th - are especially ripe opportunities for New Yorkers to bring their real trees (no fake ones) to one of the 33 chipping sites between 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Stay for the thrill of watching your tree get fed into the wood chipper, and you can take home some mulch ostensibly from your very own tree. (Be sure to bring your own bag for mulch).
The city’s collection of mulch will also be used to grow and feed city trees and plant life.
“Our goal is to take a lot of that out of the landfill, and to make sure it's chipped and to make sure it goes back, basically recycling, by putting it for mulch in our parks and our trees and also for people to take it home,” Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver said.
This year Christmas trees were at a premium because of multiple factors, including closed borders with Canada — where so many of New York City's tree vendors come from — and spiking demand driven by pandemic holiday blues, along with a diminished supply because of the 2008 recession, when fewer trees were planted, as well as other factors, such as extreme weather in recent years.
If you’re looking to throw out your tree, the city’s Department of Sanitation will begin cubside collection starting January 4th through January 15th. The trees will be picked up in special tree-dedicated trucks so do not be alarmed if your tree is left behind after trash and recycling trucks roll through, the DOS says.
Residents should remove all tinsel, lights, ornaments and other decorations from their discarded trees and take them off their stands.
DOS typically recycles about 200,000 real trees each year. The collected trees are chipped and recycled into compost that the Parks Department will use in parks and community gardens.
For the artificial tree people out there -- you can deconstruct your tree for recycling with the appropriate metal, glass and plastic components.
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mulchfest
Sophia Chang
Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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