JEFFERSON PARISH

Christmas trees will be collected curbside throughout unincorporated Jefferson Parish, Gretna, Harahan, Kenner, Lafitte, and Westwego on January 12, 13 and 14, 2017. Trees will be recycled for marsh restoration or composting.

Residents are advised to place trees curbside on the evening of Wednesday, January 11th. Garbage trucks will make one pass through each neighborhood to collect trees on January 12, 13, and 14, 2017. It is important to remember that any trees put out prior to or after the dates indicated will be mixed in with normally scheduled trash pickup. This program is not part of regularly scheduled pick up and Progressive Waste Solutions has dedicated trucks for this purpose only.

Only clean, unpainted and non-flocked trees are acceptable for re-use. Prior to placing trees curbside, residents must remove all lights, tinsel, garland, ornaments, tree stands, and plastic bags from their Christmas trees. Artificial, flocked or painted trees are not eligible for the program.

This year’s project involves two phases. Some of the trees will be placed in the marsh, refurbishing previously constructed shoreline fences in Goose Bayou near Lafitte to help protect and restore Jefferson’s coastal wetlands; and others will be chipped and used for composting.

Although the Louisiana Office of Coastal Management has discontinued funding Christmas tree marsh restoration projects throughout the state, we are able to continue this popular project thanks to a generous donation of $25,000 from DynoNobel and the help of volunteers.

Volunteers are needed, especially those with shallow draft boats to move trees from a Lafitte staging area to the pre-constructed shoreline fences in Goose Bayou. Volunteers will meet at 8:00am on Saturday, January 14th at Cochiara’s Marina, 4477 Jean Lafitte Boulevard in Lafitte, to move trees to the pre-constructed shoreline fences in Goose Bayou, near the Town of Jean Lafitte. If bad weather conditions on January 14th cause cancellation, the event will be rescheduled for the following Saturday, January 21st.

Volunteers must be at least 18 years of age, wear layered clothing including long pants, long sleeved shirt, and closed-toe, sturdy shoes. Hats and sunscreen are recommended. Gloves, safety glasses, life vests, lunch and refreshments will be provided.

For more information or to volunteer, contact the Jefferson Parish Department of Environmental Affairs at (504) 731-4612.

GRETNA

All residents of the City of Gretna are advised to place trees curbside on the evening of Wednesday, January 11, 2017.

Garbage trucks will make one pass through each neighborhood to collect trees on January 12, 13, and 14, 2017. The collection schedule may vary on the three (3) specified collection days.

Only clean, unpainted and non-flocked trees are acceptable for re-use. Before placing trees curbside, residents must remove all lights, tinsel, garland, ornaments, tree stands of any kind (including wooden), and plastic bags from the Christmas trees.

ORLEANS PARISH

Residents are asked to put their trees at the curb — not on the neutral ground — before 5 a.m. on their regularly scheduled second collection day from Jan. 12-14 in areas served by Richard’s Disposal and Metro Services, which cover most of the city. Properties in the French Quarter and the Downtown Development District, which are served by Empire Services, should place their trees curbside before 4 a.m. on Jan. 12.

The project is funded by the city's Office of Resilience and Sustainability. In 2016, more than 6,000 Christmas trees were collected and airlifted by the Louisiana National Guard into Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge as part of a program to create new marsh habitat.

Residents seeking more information should call NOLA 311.

HAMMOND

Southeastern Louisiana University scientists at Turtle Cove will use the discarded trees to help build up marshland in areas that have been impacted by erosion and other factors.

Partnering in the project for the third year is the Southeastern Sustainability Center on North Oak Street, which will serve as a drop-off point for area residents to leave their used Christmas trees. Other partners include the city of Hammond and Middendorf’s Restaurant in Manchac, as drop-off sites.

Trees can be dropped off beginning Dec. 26 through Mardi Gras from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Hammond Maintenance facility, 18104 Hwy. 190, next to Piggly Wiggly Super Market. The Southeastern Sustainability Center, 2101 North Oak Street, will collect trees beginning Jan. 5 through the end of the month from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 to 10 a.m. on Friday. Moreau said a Turtle Cove trailer drop off site will also be maintained at Middendorf’s Restaurant.

For more, visit SELU's website.

ST. TAMMANY PARISH

St. Tammany Parish will again accept Christmas trees for recycling. On the Western side of the Parish, residents can drop off their trees at the St. Tammany Parish Fairgrounds in Covington. The Parish would like citizens to use the entrance by Lyon Elementary. On the Eastern side of the Parish, the old Levee Board building in Slidell located at 61134 Military Road is the designated drop off location. Only bare, green trees will be used; no flocked trees, no trees with ornaments, and no trees with lights will be accepted and recycled.

Trees that are placed out on the curb for trash collection may not be recycled. Contact your trash collection company to find out if they participate in a tree recycling program.

The program will begin on January 3, 2017, and the last day for dropping off trees will be January 29, 2017. Trees may be dropped off between the hours of 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH

Christmas tree pick up will take place in East Baton Rouge Parish from Jan. 9 to Jan 21 2017, exclusing Baker and Zachary. There is only one pick up in each area, so trees should be left out within those two weeks.

Drop off sites will open on Dec. 16 and tun through Jan 28. People who want to recycle their trees will be able to drop them off at the following locations:

Independence Park - Parking lot off Lobdell between tennis courts and Liberty Lagoon

Highland Road Park - 14024 Highland Road

Memorial Stadium - Grassy lot near the corner of Scenic and Foss

Flannery Road Park - 801 S. Flannery

LSU - Skip Bertman Drive across from the Vet School