Angelica Ramos
Contributing Writer
MONTGOMERY COUNTY- Cut Christmas Trees will be collected by the municipalities in January to be recycled.
The towns of Christiansburg and Blacksburg have announced their annual Christmas Tree recycling windows.
The Town of Christiansburg has announced on their Facebook page that tree recycling will begin Jan. 2, 2024. For those who celebrate other holidays that use trees as a decoration like Three Kings Day, Yule or many others, do not worry, the tree collection ends Jan. 12, 2024 for the Town of Christiansburg. They ask for residents to put their trees out on the curb and they will be collected.
For the Town of Blacksburg, the announcement read collection of holiday trees will be during the first two weeks of January. Their announcement states, “Trees that are collected will be chipped, and used as an alternate fuel source. Place your cut tree at the curb no later than 7 a.m. on Monday of the second week in January to ensure pickup.”
Both towns ask that the trees are bare and stripped of all decorations and wires before collection. Both towns state that any artificial wreaths, trees or other artificial greenery will not be accepted, nor will the tree stands be collected.
Claytor Lake State Park will not be taking Christmas trees for their “Christmas for the Fishes” habitat program this year, according to the park’s Facebook page. They cannot take trees this year due to debris clean-up efforts from Hurricane Helene.
And now, a few facts about Christmas trees:
Approximately 25 – 30 million Americans buy cut Christmas trees per year for the holiday season. These trees typically come from tree farms or tree lots that sell firs, spruces and other popular trees for the holidays. According to the National Christmas Tree Association, as of 2024, there are 15,000 farms in the United States that produce Christmas trees. Most of those farms are in states like: North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Washington, Oregon, Michigan and other states where coniferous trees thrive. Due to this, there are 350 million Christmas trees growing in the United States each year; however, not all of them are harvested because they take time to grow to full health and maturity, a process that takes years, up to about seven years. Because this process takes years, when one tree is cut, typically multiple are planted in its place. A benefit that real trees have that some artificial trees don’t is that they can be recycled. When real trees are recycled, they can be turned into potential fuel sources, mulch, firewood, and in some tree recycling programs, be used for wildlife habitats, especially in water as they produce oxygen that are helpful for fish and other marine wildlife.
