For those who are the sort to let no more needles fall off their trees and onto the floor after Christmas Day, the city of Marietta will be providing three locations where residents can drop off live trees beginning Wednesday.
There are a number of feel-good benefits to finding a non-trash, non-landfill alternative for live holiday trees.
"By recycling their trees, residents are creating the ability for (a composting station) to turn it into mulch and compost," said Jonathan Hupp, Marietta's safety-service director.
Article Photos
SHARON BOPP The Marietta Times
Steve Burton, store associate at Thomson’s Landscaping and Garden Center in Marietta, shakes out the needles on a Christmas tree Monday. Beginning Wednesday, the city of Marietta will have three drop-off locations this year for live-cut Christmas trees.
According to Todd Stockel, city streets department superintendent, "The Ohio Department of Natural Resources will pick up some of the trees, take them to a resort and put them in lakes to be fish habitat."
When Christmas trees are used as wildlife habitat, they provide shelter for some creatures during the winter months, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' website.
City residents are asked to deposit their Christmas trees at Lookout Park, Indian Acres Park or Buckeye Park.
Fact Box
Drop-off sites
The city of Marietta will have three drop-off locations this year for live-cut Christmas trees:
Lookout Park.
Indian Acres Park.
Buckeye Park.
Residents can also deposit trees at Greenleaf Landscapes' compost facility on Ohio 60.
Residents can also take their trees directly to Greenleaf Landscapes' composting station on Ohio 60.
Once the hundreds of live-cut trees expected to be left at the three city locations have been dropped off, trees will be taken to Greenleaf's composting station.
Hupp said city staffers are "hoping citizens bring us trees and trees only."
If trees are dropped off that still have ornaments, garland, tinsel or other items on them, "that requires additional manpower from city street crews or public facilities' crews" to remove the items before Greenleaf will accept the trees, he added.
"Greenleaf is particular with what it receives," said Hupp.
What's more, those items can be harmful to the environment and wildlife, according to the ODNR website.
The three drop-off locations will be open until Feb. 1.
Hupp said he feels Marietta is "providing its citizens a wonderful service."
"We're giving residents the opportunity to bring their tree from the living room to a collection point so they don't have to put it on the curb or put in a standard refuse service," he added.
There is no cost to Marietta residents to drop trees at any of the city parks.
