It’s the greenest of South Florida Christmas tree options — and it’s free.
In what has become a seasonal tradition, the Urban Paradise Guild is doing double environmental duty — removing troublesome Australian pines from Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve (ACE) in North Miami and offering the invasive species as substitute for holiday trees.
Sure, the scraggly pine looks a little like a sad Charlie Brown Christmas tree, despite tying on multiple branches to make it look bushier. And you won’t get that evergreen Douglas fir smell — but Sam Van Leer, Urban Paradise Guild’s founder, suggests picking up cuttings or pine cones at a local tree shop to make up for that.
The big appeal is that you’re saving a tree somewhere else and— after you return it for mulching — keeping a tree from landfills that pump out greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change.
“Christmas trees everyone loves them, but they are contributing to a big waste problem,” Jackeline Bonilla, the executive director of Urban Paradise Guild said. “Every season people buy the trees and then they end up in landfills and areas they shouldn’t be.”
The Australian pine was introduced in the 1800s as a salt tolerant tree to provide shade but ended up being a massive problem. The needle-like-leaves kill native plants around it, harms nesting for gopher tortoises and sea turtles and easily topples with high wind. They’ve been an ongoing removal project at ACE Preserve.
The pine stays green for about a month in water. And when the holidays are over, Urban Paradise Guild encourages everyone to bring back their trees and they’ll demonstrate how to crush them into mulch. Because the park is connected to northern Biscayne Bay and is near a mangrove restoration site, the Guild asks to remove glitter or plastic tinsel before bringing them back to recycle.
Daniella Talero, who said she raises her son “on the crunchy side” has made cutting down invasive Christmas trees a family tradition the last three years.
“It’s a really beautiful learning experience for him to understand what an invasive really means, how it’s affecting our environment, and how important it is to really pay attention to what we’re bringing in or bringing out, because everything has a consequence,” Talero said.
“I just think that, you know, as a society, we really have to make an effort to create moments to have community, and this is a beautiful way to do it,” she said.
Here’s how to pick up a tree:
When: Dec. 15 from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Where: Park at the small Arch Creek East Environmental Preserve (ACE), 2699 NE 135th St, North Miami, FL 33181. Walk past the preserve sign to meet the group.
Ashley Miznazi is a climate change reporter for the Miami Herald funded by the Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Family Foundation in partnership with Journalism Funding Partners.
