EDWARDSVILLE - The Edwardsville Township will again be taking live Christmas trees from the community to recycle them on site.
Edwardsville Township Supervisor Frank Miles said the trees will be ran through a wood chipper on site at the Robert C. Stille Edwardsville Township Community Park, located at 6368 Center Grove Road.
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Residents of the township should remove all lights and decorations before taking their out-of-season Christmas tree to the wood chipper. After being chipped, the former trees will be used as mulch at the park. Last year, Miles said more than 400 trees were recycled, which allowed an additional two truckloads of mulch to be delivered to the Watershed Nature Center.
"We think it's a good service the township provides for our residents," he said. "It gives folks a place to take their Christmas trees."
While many waste services will accept discarded Christmas trees, Miles said the township is able to dispose of them in a way that is more community-oriented. He said the state also collects Christmas trees at Carlyle Lake, which are then thrown into the lake to provide habitats to fish. The mulch created by the township's program, however, is utilized to promote tree growth at the park.
"Obviously, it's a recycling situation, which is much better for the environment," Miles said. "It goes right back to Township Park to help the trees go and keep the weeds down."
Miles said the Christmas tree recycling program has occurred for several years in the township, but it has been better promoted over the last three or four years. Christmas trees will be accepted from the community from Dec. 26 through Jan. 31.
