Louisiana is losing a football field's worth of land every hour and a half, according to a 2019 New Yorker article by Elizabeth Kolbert. We can all do something to help by recycling our Christmas trees. Here is what you need to know:
JEFFERSON PARISH
Residents of Unincorporated Jefferson Parish and the Town of Jean Lafitte are reminded to recycle their Christmas trees in an effort to help fight coastal erosion. All Christmas trees must be placed curbside starting on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 and will be collected on one of the following garbage pickup dates: Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024, Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, or Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024. Please note - you need to fill out this form.
Trees must meet the following guidelines in order to be recycled:
No flocked trees
No artificial trees
No painted trees
No lights, garland, tinsel, ornaments, tree stands and plastic bags
The trees will be recycled in an effort to fight coastal erosion, which protects Jefferson Parish’s unique ecosystem including wildlife and wetlands.
The Jefferson Parish Department of Coastal Management is asking residents who wish to recycle their Christmas tree to fill out the Christmas Tree Pickup form. Collection is scheduled all throughout the parish on Jan. 11-13, 2024; however, completing this form will allow the Coastal Management team to alert collection crews where trees will be placed for pickup. For more information, please contact the Jefferson Parish Department of Ecosystem and Coastal Management at 504-736-6719, email JPCoastalZone@JeffParish.net or visit www.JeffParish.net/Coastal.
For more information about Jefferson Parish, visit www.JeffParish.net. Residents can also receive regular updates by following the Parish on social media (@JeffParishGov) or by texting JPALERT or JPNOTICIAS to 888-777.
ORLEANS PARISH
Orleans Parish residents are asked to place their trees curbside before 5 a.m. on their regularly scheduled collection day between Jan. 8 - 13, 2024.
Properties in the French Quarter and Downtown Development District should place their trees curbside before 4 a.m. on Jan. 11, 2024. This will be the only day for tree pick in the French Quarter.
Only natural, unflocked trees that are free of tree stands and all trimmings (decorations, ornaments, tinsel and lights) will be collected for recycling. Flocked, artificial trees, trees in bags or trees with unremoved trimmings will be collected with garbage and transported to the landfill. Trees are not to be placed on the neutral grounds, as this delays the collection process.
Working collaboratively, the City’s Department of Sanitation; waste management contractors; the City’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and the Louisiana National Guard will collect, sort and bundle the recycled trees. They will then be placed in selected coastal zones to restore wetlands lost to erosion and the sinking of the land (subsidence).
In 2022, more than 5,000 Christmas trees were collected in Orleans Parish after the holidays and then airlifted by the Louisiana National Guard into the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge to create new marsh habitat. After the trees are dropped by helicopter, workers arrive by boat to move them to their final position. Over the course of this program, recycled Christmas trees have restored an area of marsh equal to almost 200 football fields. The trees also create important habitat for birds, fish, crabs, crawfish and shrimp.
