With the holiday season in the rearview mirror, many families are wondering what they should do with their Christmas trees as they clean up their decorations.
In a program that has ran for over three decades, the city of Chicago will be offering their holiday tree recycling program at 27 locations across the city.
The program converts the recycled trees into free mulch, which is then used at parks and residential landscapes to help improve soil structure and moisture retention in the city's lawns and gardens.
According to Chicago's Department of Streets and Sanitation, approximately 389,000 trees have been mulched through the program over the past 35 years.
The program accepts live and natural holiday trees inside tree recycling corrals at the program's 27 locations. Ornaments, lights, tinsel and tree stands must be removed before the tree is dropped off, as well as plastic bags used for transport.
The program begins Saturday and runs through Saturday, Jan. 25, with free mulch offered to those recycling trees at six locations beginning Monday, Jan. 13.
A full list of locations can be found below:
- Bessemer Park, 8930 S. Muskegon Avenue
- Clark Park, 3400 N. Rockwell Street
- Forestry Site, 900 E. 103rd Street*
- Garfield Park, 100 N. Central Park Avenue
- Grant Park, 900 S. Columbus Drive
- Hiawatha Park, 8028 W. Forest Preserve Drive
- Humboldt Park Boathouse, 1301 N. Humboldt Drive
- Jackson Park, 6300 S. Cornell Avenue
- Kelvyn Park, 4438 W. Wrightwood Avenue
- Kennedy Park, 2427 W. 113th Street
- Lake Meadows Park, 3117 S. Rhodes Avenue
- Lincoln Park, Cannon Drive at Fullerton Avenue (East Side of Cannon Drive)*
- Mahalia Jackson Park, 8385 S. Birkhoff Avenue
- Margate Park, 4921 N. Marine Drive*
- Marquette Park, 6700 S. Kedzie Avenue
- McKinley Park, 2210 W. Pershing Road
- Mount Greenwood Park, 3721 W. 111th Street*
- North Park Village, 5801 N. Pulaski Road*
- Norwood Park (Service Yard), 5800 N. Avondale Avenue
- Portage Park, 4100 N. Long Avenue
- Riis Park, 6201 W. Wrightwood Avenue
- Rowan Park, 11546 South Avenue L
- Sheridan Park, 910 S. Aberdeen Street
- Walsh Park, 1722 N. Ashland Avenue
- Warren Park, 6601 N. Western Avenue*
- Wentworth Park, 5701 S. Narragansett Avenue
- West Chatham Park, 8223 S. Princeton Avenue
More information on the city's tree recycling efforts can be found here.
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