This year, don’t just throw away that beautiful Christmas Tree that has been the highlight of your holiday decorations, recycle it! Instead of being taken to a landfill, taking a long time to biodegrade and having a negative effect on our environment, a recycled Christmas Tree will be composted or turned into mulch used for playgrounds, local government beautification projects and individual yards. It can even be converted into fuel! Recycling your Christmas tree is an easy way to help make this holiday season a little greener.
Your collection company may be allowing you to put your Christmas tree out with the trash and they will pick it up for you. While, this is an extremely convenient option, there is no guarantee that they will recycle it. In fact, they usually do not. The only way to be sure your Christmas tree is going to benefit our environment is by taking it to a recycling center, and, the good news for you, is that metro Atlanta is filled with recycling centers for Christmas trees.
Here is a list of local recycling centers for your convenience. So, find the one closest to you and take your Christmas tree there to be recycled (and don’t procrastinate, many recycling programs are only for the first couple of weeks in January):
- Home Depot – most every location in metro Atlanta is a recycling center, but call your store before you head there to verify
- Lake Avondale
- Chamblee Civic Center
- Smyrna Recycling Education Center (for Cobb County residents only)
- Riverdale Middle School
- Morgan Falls Recycling Center
- Fire Stations throughout Gwinnett County
- East Transfer Station (for Dekalb County residents only)
- Stockbridge Maintenance Shop
- Kemp Primary
- Redwine Softball Park
- Rockdale County Recycling Center
- Kedron Village Shopping Center
The state of Georgia also hosts a recycling program that is sponsored by Keep Georgia Beautiful. Visit the Keep Georgia Beautiful page for more information on this year’s drop off date and locations.