FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PR- 001-07 January 4, 2007 MAYOR BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES MULCHFEST 2007 Christmas Tree Recycling to Take Place in All Five Boroughs Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe today announced the 11th annual MulchFest, a citywide event where New Yorkers can recycle and convert their Christmas trees into wood chips. This year, 66 recycling sites citywide have been designated to accept trees on Saturday, January 6th and Sunday, January 7th between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. At many of the tree drop-off locations, chippers will be on hand and the public 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 Friday, January 5, through Tuesday, January 16. Today's announcement was made in Fort Greene Park. "Mulchfest provides New Yorkers with the opportunity to complete the lifecycle of holiday trees," said Mayor Bloomberg. "This program recycles thousands of trees and wreaths and turns them into something useful that contributes to New York's urban environment." "MulchFest is a great and easy opportunity for City residents to contribute to a cleaner and healthier New York," said Commissioner Benepe. "By recycling their Christmas trees, New Yorkers can help the environment by reducing the waste stream and helping trees, plants and shrubs grow. Special thanks to the Sanitation Department for partnering with us to provide New York with this essential service. We encourage all New Yorkers to chip in and help our City grow." Last year, 156,000 Christmas trees were collected and recycled by the City - 8,800 trees through MulchFest. The mulch from last year's trees was used throughout the year to nurture New York 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. Wood chip mulch moderates soil temperatures, helps retain soil moisture, and deters weed growth while slowly adding nutrients to the soil. Wood chips may be used to line street tree pits and flowerbeds in parks. Wood chips 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.
MEDIA CONTACT: Stu Loeser / Jason Post (212) 788-2958 Warner Johnston (Parks & Recreation) (212) 360-1311 Vito Turso (Sanitation) (646) 885-5020 |
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