City crews spent Monday morning collecting Christmas trees curbside from East Lansing households and chipping them down into mulch to fill in city parks this summer.
Sanitation workers were at Patriarche Park Monday morning to feed the trees into a wood chipper, which spit small wood chips into a truck and will be stored for later use.
The city has partaken in this recycling practice for at least 15 years, said Dave Smith, an environmental specialist for East Lansing.
Smith said this year’s efforts will save the city close to $1250 in landscaping costs.
“When we get the trees back here, people don’t realize we can use them for the playground area and park trails,” sanitation worker Ken Johnson said. “You’re getting your holiday use out of it, and you’re getting your springtime sports use as well.”
During the holiday season, evergreens symbolized joy and the spirit of giving, but now, in East Lansing, they symbolize wood chips.
Sanitation workers spent the past two Mondays collecting Christmas trees from curbs and chipping them to mulch in an effort to recycle and ease landscaping costs. The mulch from the discarded trees will be spread in local parks this summer.
Residents have until Friday to drop off their live-cut trees at Patriarche, Emerson, Fine, Valley Court or White Memorial parks and contribute to this event.
“I would say we’ve been doing this easily for the past 15 years, and it saves the city a lot of money,” said Dave Smith, an environmental specialist for East Lansing.
The typical cost of purchasing mulch from a landscaping company is about $10 per cubic yard, Smith said.
The city anticipates getting 125 cubic yards of mulch through the collecting and chipping process, netting a $1,250 total value saved by recycling the trees.
A large redwood chipper stationed at Patriarche Park spewed dirt and chips into a truck Monday as workers fed Christmas trees into its teeth.
“When we get the trees back here, people don’t realize we can use them for the playground area and park trails,” sanitation worker Ken Johnson said.
Despite a sagging economy, Christmas tree dealers said they saw a decent overall year for sales of the live trees that are used in the mulching program.
“This was a good year as far as sales,” said Dave Gearhart, president of North Star Trees Inc.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
