Archives of the Mayor's Press Office

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Date: Tuesday, January 4, 2000

Release #002-00


Contact: Sunny Mindel/ Edward Skyler (212) 788-2958

Robert Lawson, Parks & Recreation (212) 360-1311


MAYOR GIULIANI AND PARKS COMMISSIONER STERN ANNOUNCE MULCHFEST 2000

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani today announced that the City's Parks Department will be recycling Christmas trees for the fourth consecutive holiday season. On Saturday, January 8, 2000, New Yorkers will be able to take their trees to parks in each borough and watch them be converted into wood chips during MulchFest 2000. Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern and Sanitation Commissioner Kevin P. Farrell joined the Mayor at the announcement in City Hall Park where they participated in a tree chipping demonstration.

"MulchFest provides an environmentally-friendly way for people to dispose of their Christmas Trees," Mayor Giuliani said. "Instead of sending these trees to the landfill, recycling them allows the wood chips to be put back into the earth where they can do some good."

Parks Commissioner Stern said, "On Saturday, January 8, go to the nearest mulching location to dispose of your Christmas tree in this ecologically mindful and fun way."

Commissioner Farrell reminded New Yorkers that the Sanitation Department began their curbside collection of Christmas trees yesterday, and that collections would continue until Saturday, January 22. Last year, the Department collected and composted over 1,800 tons of Christmas trees and wreaths. The compost is distributed to parks, ball fields and community gardens.

Tree recycling can create two different byproducts and both benefit the environment. The immediate byproduct, wood chips, can be used to line tree pits along streets and in parks. The chips insulate the soil around the base of the tree, reduce soil compaction, increase moisture and prevent salt-shock. Wood chips can also be used in homes and gardens to enrich soil and control weeds.

Leftover chips are brought to the recycling centers at the Bronx's Ferry Point Park and Brooklyn's Canarsie Park, where they are composted with other lawn and garden waste collected by the Department of Sanitation. This organic compost becomes "mulch" as it decomposes. Mulch is a nutrient-rich, organic soil compound that Parks' Natural Resources Group uses for its restoration projects, such as those completed in Manhattan's Inwood Hill Park and Queens' Forest Park.

Currently, Parks and the Department of Sanitation's lawn and garden composting projects reduce the City's waste stream by up to 7,000 tons each year. Due to an $8 million agreement between Parks and Sanitation, money that had been spent on carting dead trees and leaves to the Fresh Kills landfill is now spent on trees and shrubs for parks that were originally built on landfill and are currently being restored. Efforts such as these will ensure that the City meets its goal of closing the Fresh Kills Landfill by the end of 2001.

MulchFest 2000 will take place on Saturday, January 8, 2000, from 10am to 3pm, at the following locations:

The Bronx Van Cortlandt Park Broadway at 242nd Street
Brooklyn Prospect Park Prospect Park West at 3rd Street
Manhattan Tompkins Square Park 7th Street and Avenue A
Queens Cunningham Park Francis Lewis Bld. & Union Tpk.
Staten Island Victory Nursery Victory Blvd. off of Travis Avenue

MulchFest Pointers:


For more information about MulchFest, call (800) 201-PARK.

www.ci.nyc.ny.us


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