Christmas is officially over and, like many people, you may find yourself wondering what to do with that old Christmas tree you bought off the lot. Chris Lang with the Office of Resilience and Sustainability for the City of New Orleans suggests donating it to buffer against coastal erosion. “We take Christmas trees through curbside programs, so any resident who wants to dispose of your tree responsibly, we recycle it. So, you can just leave it curbside in front of your house from January 5th through January 9th,” Lang explained.
Those dates of January 5th-9th apply to New Orleans residents who want their used Christmas trees to be collected as part of the program. In Jefferson Parish, those used trees will be picked up between Wednesday, January 7th-Saturday, January 10th. For those who need the tree removed before then and would like to have it donated, dialing 311 will aid in having that tree picked up earlier. Lang emphasizes that all trees must be unflocked and all decorations and ornaments must be removed to be collected as part of this effort. “We need the tree to be in its natural state because it will eventually be staged in Bayou Sauvage as part of an ongoing restoration effort,” notes Lang. Because of this, all trees need to be as bare as possible before they are donated…