The holidays are winding down and most of us are thinking “out with the old and in with the new.”  But before you toss out your old Christmas tree - think about the life your evergreen could have after the ornaments are all packed away again.  Recycle it!

The Las Vegas Springs Preserve is once again asking Southern Nevadans to bring their used holiday trees to any one of more than 20 drop-off sites located throughout the valley.  The trees will be chipped and made into mulch, where the pulpy mix will be placed in gardens and flowerbeds of city parks and used at the Springs Preserve.  The cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, & Henderson have set up sites at many local parks and other locations including the Nellis Recycling Center, UNLV’s Rebel Recycling Center on campus, and R.C. Willey in Summerlin.

 You can also drop off your tree at The Springs Preserve and see how the mulch will be used.  Annalisa Helm, Education Specialist for The Preserve, says the program is about 10 years old now and becoming very successful with thousands of trees turned in.  She says people realize the benefit of keeping the trees out of the landfill and putting them to use back into the ground, just in a different form.  The hope is that maybe even next year, you will be able to trade in your tree for mulch to take home and use in your own yard.

Many people think that re-using an artificial tree year after year is the best gift for the environment, but a live tree is actually more beneficial in many ways.  Forests are not cut down for Christmas trees.  Instead, Christmas tree farms (about 500,000 trees growing in the U.S. alone) absorb billions of pounds of harmful carbon dioxide and give off plenty of clean fresh oxygen for us to breathe in return.  They also provide habitat for wildlife.  And while fake trees will eventually be thrown into the landfill, real trees can be chipped and put back into the earth to complete the life cycle of the tree when they’re no longer wanted .

Trees must be free of all ornaments, garland and any other foreign materials.  Anything left on the tree - especially made of metal - could damage the chippers.  Flocked trees can NOT be accepted.  The program is absolutely free and runs until January 15th, with many sites open 24 hours.

If you can’t take your tree to a drop-off site yourself, there is a service which will come to your home and take down your tree for you.  They’ll even vacuum up all the pine needles before they leave.  The fee is $30.  Call 1-800-GOT JUNK.  The tree will be delivered to one of the recycling drop-off locations.  

Giving your tree a life after the holidays may be one of the best gifts you give this year!