This week on Ours to Protect, Orla is looking at environmentally friendly ways you can dispose of your Christmas tree now that the festive season is well and truly over.
Did you know?
Did you know that County Councils across the South East are providing a Christmas tree recycling programme. The dates vary from council to council. In Carlow, the programme is running until the end of January.
To find out more, Orla met with Mary Walsh, the Facility Manager at Powerstown Civic Amenity Site in Carlow. The location is easily accessible off the M9 motorway in Carlow, near junction 6, on the old road to Kilkenny.
"We facilitate the general public whereby we accept their old Christmas tree. Real trees, not artificial trees. We accept the old, real trees free of charge for the month of January."
By bringing your natural tree to a county council recycling centre, it means it is becoming part of the circular economy.
"We accept trees here as part of our green waste in Powerstown. Our green waste is transported from here to a licensed facility. The green waste is then processed and becomes compost", Mary explains.
"It is then reused for the benefit of your gardens, or your flowers, your trees so it is a full circular economy approach.
"Once your tree comes here, you know it is going to be composted, broken down and reused to create more natural resources to feed back into the environment."
Mary said that the site has a lot of traffic for trees. One vehicle may have just one tree to recycle or multiple trees in the one trip.
"Yes it can get very busy here. The general public - you see alot of people really don't have anywhere where they can get rid of their Christmas tree. They might have a small garden and can be very unsightly to leave it out in your back garden. They might not have a back garden space to leave it in. So, it can be be very busy.
"For the Christmas tree amnesty, we generally serve about 300 to 350 people so it can be quite popular. People are happy to get rid of the tree when the use is done and it is wilted, so we are happy to take it."
The Christmas tree recycling programme continues at Powertown Civic Amenity Centre in Co. Carlow until the end of the month.
Check your own county council for their closing dates for Christmas Tree recycling but if you have missed the deadline at your recycling centre then you might find a local club doing this as a fundraiser like Killenagh Wanderers AFC in Co. Wexford.
For more information visit:
www.wexfordcoco.ie/waste-and-recycling
***
To listen back to our latest episode, click here.
To find out Your Carbon Footprint, visit footprintcalculator.org.
We'd also like to here your say on Climate Action by taking part in our survey.
Ours to Protect is funded by Coimisiún na Meán with the Television Licence Fee.
This project is a partnership between Beat 102 103 and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland.
Check out Ours To Protect for more information.
