If you want to get rid of your Christmas tree in Monroe County, you have a couple of options.
The city will be picking up Christmas trees with trash and recycling through Jan. 18, but if you don't want to wait for trash day there is another way to go. The five recycling centers in Monroe County will also be taking trees, wreaths and garlands through Jan. 13.
"What happens to the trees is they are then chopped up for mulch. Which will eventually become soil. It is a way of recycling these holiday trees and not wasting them," says Elisa Pokral, the media and education director for the Monroe County Solid Waste Management District.
Pokral is also urging Hoosiers not buy artificial trees.
"Make sure that you stay away from artificial trees because artificial trees, the average life of an artificial tree is about five to seven years and lasts hundreds of years in landfills," she says.
Pokral says the most environmentally responsible Christmas tree you can get is a live tree with a bulb that can be replanted after the holiday season.