For anyong still hanging on to their Christmas tree, you can now turn it into mulch as a way to recycle the beloved Christmas staple. The city of Chicago has set up a recycle program, turning your beacon of holiday cheer into reusable material as we enter 2023. Recycling Christmas trees helps give back to the earth, as the mulch it will create is used to help plants and refurbish the soil in local parks and forests.
Starting January 7, residents can drop off bare Christmas trees at any of the 26 locations. Please only bring live and natural trees to the center as the tree must be bare of ornaments, decor and tinsle in order to be recycled. Garlands are also not accepted at the site, along with any plastic bagged trees– please remove any coverings before bringing the trees over.
Chicago’s Tree Recycling Program will run until January 22nd with dropoff times available during normal park hours– which might vary depending on location.
Starting January 9th, visitors recycling a Christmas tree can find free mulch six of the recycling spots including Lincoln Park, Margate Park, Mt. Greenwood Park, North Park Village, Warren Park, and the Forestry Site on a first-come first-served basis.
The official Recycle by City site posted a list of open locations. Keep reading for a list of parks participating in the Tree Recycling Program:
- Bessemer Park, 8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
- Clark Park, 3400 N. Rockwell St.
- *Forestry Site, 900 E. 103rd St.
- Garfield Park, 100 N. Central Park Ave.
- Grant Park, 900 S. Columbus Dr.
- Humboldt Park Boathouse, 1369 N. Sacramento Ave
- Jackson Park Fieldhouse Parking Lot, off S. Cornell Ave.
- Kennedy Park, 2427 W. 113th St.
- Kelvyn Park, 4438 W. Wrightwood Ave.
- Lake Meadows Park, 3117 S. Rhodes Ave.
- *Lincoln Park, Cannon Dr. at Fullerton Ave. (East side of Cannon Dr.)
- Mahalia Jackson Park, 8385 S. Birkhoff Ave.
- *Margate Park, 4921 N. Marine Dr.
- Marquette Park, 6700 S. Kedzie Ave.
- McKinley Park, 2210 W. Pershing Rd.
- *Mt. Greenwood Park, 3721 W. 111th St.
- *North Park Village, 5801 N. Pulaski Rd.
- Norwood Park, 5800 N Avondale Ave. (Service Yard)
- Portage Park, 4100 N. Long Ave.
- Riis Park, 6201 W. Wrightwood Ave.
- Rowan Park, 11546 S. Avenue L
- Sheridan Park, 910 S. Aberdeen St.
- Walsh Park, 1722 N. Ashland Ave.
- *Warren Park, 6601 N. Western Ave.
- Wentworth Park, 5701 S. Narragansett Ave.
- West Chatham Park, 8223 S. Princeton Ave.
Any * locations are giving away free mulch. Find out more info here. Happy recycling to all!
If you’re looking to recycle or donate any bruend out Christmas lights, head to reducewastechicago.com for more information.
[Featured photo via: Shutterstock]