Recyclers ready to chip away at trees

By Jennifer L. Johnson
Published Saturday, January 09, 2010 Athens Banner-Herald


Now that New Year's Day has come and gone, most people are packing up their holiday decorations and taking down the Christmas trees.

Keep Georgia Beautiful organizations across the state will hold "Bring One for the Chipper" events today to give locals a place to recycle their trees into useful mulch - and give them an incentive to do it.

While Chipper donors often get a free seedling, anyone who drops off a tree at one of the seven sites set up in Athens this year will get a packet of yellow poplar and dogwood seeds donated by Ferry Morse Seed Co. to plant in their own yards.

In Athens-Clarke, volunteers expected to collect about 500 Christmas trees, about the same number that came in during last year's event.

The drop-off locations include Barrow Elementary School, Chase Street Elementary School, the Clarke County Tag Office on Lexington Road, Cofer's Home and Garden Showplace on Mitchell Bridge Road, the Georgia Square Mall theater parking lot, Sandy Creek Nature Center and the Winterville Public Works Building, and are open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Volunteers gave away more than 830 seedlings in Athens last year, when the campaign collected 18 tons of Christmas trees.

"We hope that people will plant these trees to replace the ones that they had in their homes over the holiday," said Stacee Farrell, executive director of Keep Athens Clarke-County Beautiful. "Lots of volunteers come out every year and help make this possible."

Donated trees will make the trip out to the Athens-Clarke Landfill on Lexington Road, where they'll be ground up into mulch.

In the past, homeowners could buy the mulch to use in their yards, but the county has plans for it this year.

The Christmas tree mulch will be used for school gardens, community gardens and improvement projects like those planned Jan. 18 for the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service hosted by HandsOn Northeast Georgia.

After today's Bring One for the Chipper, a handful of places still will accept trees for recycling. The tag office, Winterville Public Works building and the Georgia Square Mall parking lot will have bins marked "Christmas trees only" until Tuesday night.

After that, the landfill, located at 3700 Lexington Road, will accept trees free of charge.

Log on to www.keepathensbeautiful.org or visit www.keepgeorgiabeautiful.org to find a recycling location in your community.