Environmentally friendly ways to dispose of Christmas trees

Jan. 4—While the Christmas holiday season has created many memories that can be stored for the ages, there are elements that must be discarded — namely, the trees.

There are ways of relinquishing those trees that are environmentally friendly.

In Vigo County, trees are used for fish and rabbit habitat, said County Supervisor Adam Grossman.

"Put in a pile, rabbits have a place to hide," Grossman explained. "[It's] essentially the same thing with fish. Recruitment is better with proper habitat."

To prepare to drop off a used tree, remove all decorations, tinsel and plastic. Trees can be taken to the beach parking lot at Fowler Park, 3000 E. Oregon Church Road, and the boat ramp parking lot at Hawthorne Park, 6067 E. Old Maple Ave. Trees will be accepted through Jan. 7.

Otherwise, in Terre Haute, discarded trees will be picked up in the course of regular garbage collection.

Raccoon Lake in Parke County also uses trees as a resource habitat in the lake bed, or will advise residents who would like to use the trees for their own ponds or lakes for further details.

It accepts organic trees, wreaths and branches free of all decorations at the Raccoon Lake State Recreation Area, 1588 S. Raccoon Parkway, Rockville. The lake is accepting trees through Jan. 28.

Attempts to contact someone at the parks in Clay County were unsuccessful, but according to the mayor's office in Brazil, trees are collected along with regularly scheduled trash pickups.

Vermillion County parks do not collect Christmas trees.

Sullivan County used to collect trees, but hasn't for the past two years.

The most efficient form of recycling Christmas trees is chipping them into mulch, which can be used for a variety of needs around yards and gardens.

David Kronke can be reached at 812-231-4232 or at david.kronke@tribstar.com.