The holidays are coming to a close, and most people have begun to set their browning Christmas trees on the curb for bulk rate pick up service.
But Broward County’s park managers want them.
For more than 13 years, Broward County has been recycling Christmas trees through the program called Chip-A-Tree. Last year, more than 5,100 trees were recycled, which accounted for 15 percent of Broward County’s greenhouse gas emission reduction efforts.
Broward's Senior Parks Manager Chris Deal explained that many of the recycled trees that would otherwise sit in a landfill get turned into mulch for equestrian trails.
“We actually use that as a base for the horses to walk on,” he said. “It actually helps us in the fact that we don’t have to go somewhere else to get the mulch.”
But all that tinsel can’t be chipped. So the parks ask that everyone takes off any decorations before bringing their tree in.
“All you've got to do is bring it to the park, set it down and we take care of the rest,” Deal said.
The program runs through Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 15.
If you're just coming to a park to drop off your tree, you won't be charged an entrance fee on the weekends.
Here’s the complete list of the 12 Broward parks that are participating this year. Each has a designated tree drop off point: