City's Christmas Tree Recycling Program Starts Saturday
By Jon Graef in News on Jan 4, 2014 5:30PM
Starting today, Jan. 4th, and continuing through Jan. 18, you have a solid two week span in which you can recycle your Christmas tree free of charge.
The City of Chicago, in partnership with the Chicago Park District, will turn your tree into free mulch at one of 23 citywide locations. The mulch will be available to residents starting Jan. 10 at the same locations, but will not be available after the 18th. So, carpe mulch, basically.
Be sure, however, to remove ornaments and other adornments from your tree, as the city cannot recycle those.
"Recycling Christmas trees is an easy way for residents to make a big impact on the environment by keeping the alleys clear, reducing the number of trees deposited in landfills and reusing the trees in an environmentally-friendly way," Ald. Joe Moore (49th) wrote in a letter to constituents about the program.
According to the city, almost 17,000 trees were recycled last January, an improvement of the more than 14,000 trees recycled in January 2012.
Here are the 23 locations, via the city.
Bessemer Park, 8930 S. Muskegon Ave.
Clark Park, 3400 North Rockwell St.
Forestry Site, 900 E. 103rd St.
Garfield Park, 100 North Central Park Ave.
Grant Park, 900 S. Columbus Dr.
Humboldt Park Boathouse, 1369 N. Sacramento Ave.
Jackson Park, 6300 South Cornell Ave.
Kennedy Park, 2427 W. 113th St.
Kelvyn Park, 4438 W. Wrightwood Ave.
Lake Meadows Park, 3117 South Rhodes Ave.
LincolnPark, Cannon Dr. at Fullerton Ave. (Parking lot east of Cannon Dr.)
Margate Park, 4921 N. Marine Dr.
Marquette Park, 6700 S. Kedzie Ave.
McKinley Park, 2210 W. Pershing Rd.
Mt. Greenwood Park, 3721 W. 111th St.
North Park Village, 5801 N. Pulaski Rd.
Norwood Park, 5801 N. Natoma Ave.
Portage Park, 4100 N. Long Ave.
Riis Park, 6201 W. Wrightwood Ave.
Rowan Park, 11546 S. Avenue L
Sheridan Park, 910 S. Aberdeen St.
Warren Park, 6601 N. Western Ave.
Wentworth Park, 5701 S. Narragansett Ave.
If an interactive map is more your style, the Sun-Times has one absolutely worth checking out.