Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful Executive Director Lori Gummow drops off a tree at one of the 13 Christmas Tree Recycling sites. Photo provided

From press release

LOVES PARK, Ill.—Keep Northern Illinois Beautiful (KNIB) has announced its 23rd annual Christmas Tree Recycling program is scheduled for Jan. 1-15, 2011.

Lori Gummow, executive director of KNIB, said: “Christmas Tree Recycling is one of our longest-running programs. It is also one of our most popular. In January 2010, over 32,000 households dropped off trees. With 13 drop-off sites throughout Winnebago County, there is sure to be one conveniently located for area residents to bring their tree to after the holidays.”

Pine mulch is created as the trees are chipped and is available at no charge to area residents for use in their home and business landscaping. People use it as a ground cover because it is so durable and in gardens for reducing weed growth and retaining moisture. Acid-loving plants such as roses, lilies of the valley, lilacs, azaleas, hydrangeas, blueberries and evergreens benefit from the nutrients in the mulch.

“In the past 23 years, more than 1 million pounds of pine mulch has been created from over one-half million trees,” Gummow said. “Mulch is available only on a first-come, first-served basis. Residents need to bring their own shovel and container to collect the mulch.”

KNIB reminds residents to wrap their tree in a reusable bed sheet instead of a disposable tree bag to transport the tree to a drop-off site. All lights, ornaments, garland, tinsel and the tree stand need to be removed.

“We ask that everything be removed from the tree because the trees are put through large chippers, and anything left on them could damage the equipment or harm a crew member,” Gummow added. “This is the reason we cannot accept pine wreaths with metal frames at the drop-off sites. Flocked trees are also not accepted, as the white flocking material is not biodegradable.”

The drop-off sites are unmanned and open 24 hours a day. The Christmas Tree Recycling drop-off locations are as follows: Don Schmid Youth Sports Center at Riverdahl Park, Rockford; Blackhawk Park, 100 15th Ave., Rockford; Levings Lake, east entrance off Johnston Avenue, Rockford; Andrews Park, 800 N. Central Ave., Rockford; Gambino Park, River Lane off North Alpine Road, Rockford; Alpine Park, 900 S. Alpine Road, Rockford; Martin Park, Park Ridge Road off Riverside Boulevard, Loves Park; Machesney Park Village Hall, 300 Machesney Road; Baumann Park, behind the maintenance building on South Walnut, Cherry Valley; Williams Tree Farm, 4661 Yale Bridge Road, north Winnebago County; Rockton Boat Ramp Parking Lot, off Hononegah Road; Valley View Farms, 6440 Belvidere Road, Roscoe; Westlake Village, nature area south of the Smith Road intersection, Winnebago.

For more information about this recycling program, visit knib.org ^[1] or call KNIB at (815) 637-1343.

From the Dec. 29-Jan. 4, 2011 issue