In Statesboro and Bulloch County, the annual Bring One for the Chipper program to convert used, natural Christmas trees into mulch will make its seasonal appearance this Saturday, Dec. 26, through the morning of Jan. 9.
Keep Statesboro-Bulloch Beautiful, or KSBB, which is the local Keep America Beautiful and Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation affiliate, organizes the local effort annually with help from the city and county governments and a local business.
Last holiday season, the collection didn’t even begin until the first week of January.
“We’re bumping it up to right after Christmas this year because some people the year before said, ‘We usually get rid of our Christmas trees soon after Christmas,’” explained KSBB Coordinator Amanda Clements. “So we’re opening it up sooner so that people have options.”
However, people who want to trade their cut trees for free seeds, a free tree seedling and optional free mulch will need to wait for the final morning of the drive. A different collection site will be open that Saturday morning, Jan. 9.
Two sites
Before then, from Dec. 26 through Jan. 8, area residents can participate by dropping off trees at the city of Statesboro’s Public Works Department headquarters at 5 Braswell St.
Normal operating hours there are 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday, but the big roll-off container designated for Christmas trees will be outside the gate, so trees can also be dropped off in the evening or on weekends.
Anderson’s General Store at 23736 U.S. Highway 80, Statesboro, will then open as the final-morning drop-off location, Jan. 9 from 9 a.m. until noon, and the collected trees will be chipped there. Anyone who brings their Christmas tree to be recycled that morning will receive free seeds to plant, a free seedling and free mulch upon request.
So participants can choose either the convenience of the Public Works site for early disposal or the rewards of the final morning at Anderson’s, Clements said. Either choice will keep the trees out of the landfill, where they would take up space needed for disposal of other items.
The free seeds will not be tree seeds but seeds for various flower, vegetable and herb species for gardening, Clements said. This season, the tree seedlings available free for transplanting will dogwoods and northern red oaks.
Statewide program
The Keep Georgia Beautiful Foundation has nurtured the Bring One for the Chipper program as a statewide initiative for 30 years. After Christmas, used trees are recycled various by being chipped into mulch or – in some other locales – placed in bodies of water as fish habitat.
State-level sponsors include Home Depot, the Davey Tree Expert Company, the Georgia Forestry Commission, One Tree Planted and WXIA-TV in Atlanta. Some of these sponsors donate the seeds and seedlings.
KSBB is hosted and financially backed by Statesboro’s city government. More information about KSBB’s programs through the year can be at keepstatesborobullochbeautiful.org.