Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe today announced the 12th annual MulchFest, a citywide event where New Yorkers can recycle their Christmas trees by converting them into wood chips. This year, Parks & Recreation designated 85 recycling sites to accept trees throughout the five boroughs on Saturday, January 5th and Sunday, January 6th, between 10:00 AM and 2:00 PM At many of the tree drop-off locations, chippers will be on hand and residents will be able to take home mulch for their own gardens and plants. The Department of Sanitation  will also be making curbside tree collections and transporting them to recycling sites from Thursday, January 3, through Wednesday, January 16. Today's announcement was made at Rockefeller Center, one of this year's 85 MulchFest sites, where branches from the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree were chipped into mulch.

"MulchFest is another way New Yorkers can help make the city a greener and greater place. This event is a great partnership between City residents and City government and a fitting conclusion to a holiday season that has been greener than ever," said Mayor Bloomberg. "By recycling the trees we can't plant, we are helping the Million Trees NYC initiative by providing mulch to keep newly planted trees, parks and green spaces healthy and beautiful."

"This will be the 12th year in a row that New Yorkers have helped the city stay green by bringing thousands of trees for chipping at Parks' annual MulchFest," said Commissioner Benepe. "By recycling their Christmas trees, New Yorkers support the environment by giving the City's plants natural nourishment from wood chips that help trees, flowers and shrubs grow."

Last year, nearly 160,000 Christmas trees were collected and recycled by the City - 12,000 through MulchFest. The mulch from last year's trees was used throughout the year to nurture the City's greenspaces. New Yorkers are also encouraged to take neighbors' trees to designated sites, to team-up with others to collect and recycle as many trees as possible, and to bring along bags for the wood chips available at specified sites. All lights, ornaments, and decorations must be removed from the trees before drop-off. Trees should not be placed in plastic bags.

Woodchip mulch moderates soil temperatures, helps retain soil moisture and deters weed growth while slowly adding nutrients to the soil. The mulch may be used to line street tree pits and flowerbeds in parks. Woodchips may also be used in homes and gardens to enrich soil and control weeds. Below is the list of this year's designated MulchFest sites. Chipper sites are noted with an asterisk (*). For more information, please visit www.nyc.gov or call 311.