How to Recycle Your Christmas Tree — And Even Get a Bag of Mulch

By Carol Tannenhauser

What do you do with the Christmas tree you carefully chose and lovingly decorated now that the holiday season is winding down?

Recycle it! Join New York City Parks and the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) in the annual holiday tradition of “Mulchfest,” which is taking place now through January 9, 2022, in locations throughout the city. You can drop off your tree at any Mulchfest site during park hours.

As the Parks Department says on its Mulchfest website page, “Put on your boots and haul your tree to a Mulchfest location — we’ll chip your tree into wood chips that we’ll use to nourish trees and make New York City even greener. More than 29,000 trees were recycled last year. Help us top this number!”

Here are the Mulchfest locations on or near the Upper West Side:

• West 65th Street and Central Park West

• West 81st Street and Central Park West, at the bridle path*

• West 123rd Street and Morningside Avenue

• West 83rd Street and  Riverside Drive*

The West 81st Street and West 83rd Street locations are “chipping sites”.* On “Chipping Weekend”  — Saturday, January 8 & Sunday, January 9 — you can bring your tree to a chipping site from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and Parks will “chip your tree and give you your very own bag of mulch to use in your backyard or to make a winter bed for a street tree.”

Weather permitting, the sanitation department will also pick up trees curbside from Thursday, January 6 through Saturday, January 15, 2022.  For more information, visit DSNY’s Curbside Collections website.

Don’t forget to remove all lights, ornaments, and netting before bringing trees to a Mulchfest site or out to the curb. When appropriate, Parks asks that you wear a mask and practice social distancing.