Submitted by Steve Jasiecki
Christmas is over and its time to take down the holiday decorations and store them for another year. When it comes to disposing live Christmas trees, the ecologically responsible way is to have the tree recycled or re-purposed, rather than disposed of in a landfill.
Downbeach communities make this job very easy for their residents. Simply bring your tree out to the curb on the regular day you would put out your vegetation and yard waste and city trucks will haul it away. Please make sure the tree is free from tinsel, lights, and decorations.
The Atlantic County Utilities Authority collects trees in Ventnor, while Margate and Longport Public Works crews collect the trees and bring them to the ACUA where they will be composted along with all the other vegetation materials.
Only trees free from all inorganic material can be composted; flocked trees cannot be recycled. The trees will end up as mulch that can be purchased from the ACUA. Recycling trees is not only cost effective for the city, it helps extends the life of the landfill.
Since the trees will be ending up together in a common mulch pile we want to make sure a tree doesn't infect the others with foreign bodies. Please make sure your tree doesn't have tinsel-itis before letting it go outside to join the others.
Steve Jasiecki is chairman of Sustainable Margate.
