TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Castoff Trees Welcome Here

ADVERTISEMENT

By KEVIN WIATROWSKI

kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com

Published: December 26, 2008

The presents are opened. The yule log is out.

Before you hit the stores for those after-Christmas bargains, though, make a date between your soon-to-be history Christmas tree and the Pasco County recycling center.

Today, the county begins collecting castoff Christmas trees that will find new lives as mulch.

Collections will run until Jan. 5 at 10 drop-off sites from the Anclote area of southwest Pasco to Dade City.

The county will only accept trees if they are free of tinsel, hooks and decorations, said Jennifer Seney, the county's recycling coordinator.

Last year, the county collected more than 2,400 Christmas trees through its recycling program - more than six times the number collected in 2005, Seney said.

Mulch from those trees has been used in county parks and roadway medians.

Old Christmas trees also can be used as wildlife habitat where a landowner has the space to set the tree aside, according to Seney, who also runs a grass-roots environmental organization from her home in Wesley Chapel.

Drop-off locations are open during normal business hours.
CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING
•John S. Burks Memorial Park, 1322 Gene Nelson Blvd., Dade City

•Sam W. Pasco Recreational Complex, 9835 Chancey Road, Zephyrhills

•Land O' Lakes Community Center, 5401 Land O Lakes Blvd., Land O' Lakes

•West Pasco landfill, 14230 Hays Road, Shady Hills

•Veterans Memorial Park, 14333 Hicks Road, Hudson

•Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, 10500 Wilderness Park Blvd, New Port Richey

•Shady Hills Park, 15840 Green Glen Lane, Shady Hills

•Hays Road Sand Co., 13838 Hays Road, Shady Hills

•P.A.W. Materials, 14211 State Road 54, Odessa

•Anclote Gulf Park, 2305 Baillies Bluff Road, Holiday

Reporter Kevin Wiatrowski can be reached at (813) 948-4201 or kwiatrowski@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT