Nothing is worse in January than the sad looking Christmas tree awaiting its fate in the new year.
Thankfully, your Christmas tree can live again. Live trees don’t have to spend eternity in a landfill, so don’t trash that tree.
The National Christmas Tree association estimates that around 30 million live Christmas trees are sold each holiday season. Don’t let your tree be part of the enormous amount of yard waste created if these trees are not reused or mulched.
Remember when you take down your live tree the day after Christmas to drop your tree off for recycling. Trees can be dropped off at several locations around the county through Jan. 13.
You can deposit your tree in the designated locations at any Liberty County Solid Waste Convenience Center or Recycling Drop off Center during normal operation hours between now and Jan. 12. These locations are:
• 25 South Dairy Road (SR 196W, GumBranch)
• 156 Pate Rogers Road (Fleming)
• 836 Limerick Road (near Lake George)
• 64 Left Field Road (Hwy 84, Miller Park)
• 619 J V Road (west of Hinesville)
• 50 Isle of Wight Road (Midway area)
• 344 Ft Morris Road (East End near Sunbury)
• 129 Sandy Run (off Hwy 84 in Hinesville)
• 941 E G Miles Parkway (SR 196W at Training Center in Hinesville)
• Walthourville Public Works site
• 4000 Coastal Highway (Highway 17 in Riceboro)
• Fort Stewart
• Liberty County Health Department, 1113 East Oglethorpe Highway
• Hinesville residents can also have their undecorated trees picked up at the curb.
At our chipper mulch site at the Liberty County Health Department at the corner of Highway 84 and Patriot’s Trail in Flemington/Hinesville, we will have our annual chipping day from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. Jan. 13.
The Mulch Day is a fun day for everyone, so please drop by and bring your tree. All residents that drop by on the 13th can pick up seedlings, as well as vegetable and flower seeds, while our supplies last.
Georgia Power Company graciously provides the equipment and manpower to mulch all the trees for our county. Trees must be undecorated.
Those decorations and plastic trees can really be a problem when the trees are going through the chipper. Decorations do not make good mulch, so please remember to "undecorate" those live trees for mulching.
And if you are wondering, yes, over the years, people have left heavily decorated trees — and even plastic trees, wreaths and tree stands. Come now, people! We aren’t mulching plastic trees here.
If you are wondering, here are some ways these tree parts or mulch can be used:
• You can remove the branches from your trees to use as a base for a compost pile.
• Christmas trees can make effective sand and soil erosion barriers, especially for lake and river shoreline stabilization and river delta sedimentation management.
• Instead of mulching, trees can be sunk to create fish habitat. If you would like some trees for your pond, contact us at Keep Liberty Beautiful.
• You can also choose to place the Christmas tree in your garden or backyard and use it as a bird feeder and sanctuary. Fresh orange slices or strung popcorn will attract the birds and they can sit in the branches for shelter. Once again, remove decorations from your tree first.
• A Christmas tree is biodegradable, so the mulch created on Chipper Day on Jan. 13 can be used as mulch in your garden. Join us if you would like to get some. We recommend letting the mulch bake for a few months before putting it out.
• That mulch can also be used for natural paths or walking paths.
So, join us this week and give your Christmas tree a new life.
For more information on Christmas tree recycling and more, contact Keep Liberty Beautiful at 880-4888 or check out information on www.keeplibertybeautiful.org.