RECYCLE YOUR CHRISTMAS TREE

O’ Christmas Tree, O’ Christmas Tree. What do I do with my cut Christmas Tree?

Many county residents will be singing this Christmas Carol after the holidays. Join the Darke County Solid Waste District and the Darke County Park District in giving our community a gift by recycling your cut Christmas tree.

No matter where you live in Darke County, it is easy to recycle your tree. Just take your cut Christmas trees to the Darke County Park District’s Shawnee Prairie Preserve anytime between December 27, 2010 and January 9, 2011 The Shawnee Prairie Preserve is located at 4267 St. Rt. 502 in Greenville.

Recycling your tree helps ensure the sustainability of our county by saving valuable landfill space. All of the Christmas trees brought to the Park District will be chipped and shredded. When chipped into mulch, cut trees become valuable organic material used in trail maintenance and landscaping projects that help conserve soil moisture and keep plants healthy.

Before dropping off your tree, remove all non-organic objects such as lights, wire, tinsel, ornaments and nails. Foreign objects can contaminate the mulch and ruin the chipper. Unfortunately, flocked trees (with fake snow) cannot be recycled.

If you chose an artificial tree this year, you can help reduce the amount of waste generated in Darke County by taking a few of the following simple steps:

- Flatten, save, & reuse gift boxes, wrapping paper, bows and gift bags;
- Buy cards & wrapping paper products made with recycled paper;
- After receiving new gifts, donate old items to a local charity or thrift store;
- Save & reuse holiday decorations for future years;
- Cut up brown paper grocery bags to wrap parcels for mailing;
- Save bubble wrap & Styrofoam peanuts, or offer them to local private mailing stores;

The program, which is “free” to all Darke County businesses, industries, schools, nonprofit organizations and residents, will involve the participation and support of many Darke County agencies to make it work. These Darke County agencies are the Board of County Commissioners, Darke County Engineer, Darke County Highway Garage and the Darke County Parks. Best of all, neither your tax dollars nor the county’s general fund are being used to fund this program!! The Solid Waste District uses fees collected from area disposal companies to fund this program.

The Director of Darke County Parks, Roger M. Van Frank stated, “We are glad and encouraged that the collection is taking place at the Park District’s facility located on St. Rt. 502 in Greenville. The Park District has a great partnership with the Solid Waste District and this is just one more example of that partnership.” James Schaar, Chairman of the Darke County Environmental Council, and Krista Fourman, Director of the Darke County Solid Waste Management District are responsible for planning, promoting, and coordinating the program. For more information, call 937-547-0827.