Program turns trees into mulch

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004 | 11:23 a.m.

The Springs Preserve, along with other public and private entities across the Las Vegas Valley, kicked off the annual Christmas tree recycling program Monday. Christmas tree drop-off hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily through Jan. 9 at any of the following locations.

The Gardens at the Springs Preserve, 3701 W. Alta Drive, just east of Valley View Boulevard

Anthem Hills Park, 2256 Reunion Drive, Henderson

Mission Hills Park, 551 Mission Drive, Henderson

Nevada Division of Forestry Nursery, Floyd Lamb State Park, U.S. 95 North at Durango Drive

Sunset Park, Sunset Road and Eastern Avenue

Whitney Ranch Recreation Center, 1575 Galleria Drive, Henderson

Desert Breeze Park, Durango Drive and Spring Mountain Road

Lorenzi Park, West Washington Avenue and Twin Lakes

Mountain Crest Park, Durango Drive and Red Coach

Southern Highlands Community Association, 12200 Southern Highlands Parkway, southwest of Interstate 15 and Blue Diamond Road

Desert Research Institute, 1500 Buchanan Ave., Boulder City

Freedom Park, Mojave Road and East Washington Avenue

For information, call 258-3205.

After three weeks draped with twinkling lights and tinsel, standing tall in the living room of Rocco Grady's Las Vegas home, the Christmas tree's time was up.

"It was a great tree. We did it up real nice this year," said Grady, who brought the remains of his 6-foot Douglas fir to Sunset Park Monday so that it could be recycled into mulch by a local conservation group. "It makes me feel better to do it this way instead of sticking it out on the curb for the trash. That's not the Christmas spirit."

Grady, a server at Emeril's New Orleans Fish House, said he has had environmentally conscious friends try to talk him into buying an artificial tree.

"You gotta have the real tree smell to get in the holiday mood," said Grady, who spent $20 on this year's fir at Star Nursery. "You don't get that from a plastic tree."

The Gardens at the Springs Preserve and a number of community partners began the annual Christmas tree recycling program Monday and will accept the trees until Jan. 9 at 12 locations throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

The program offers residents and businesses an environmentally responsible way to dispose of Christmas trees, said Jesse Davis, spokesman for the Springs Preserve at the corner of Valley View Boulevard and Alta Drive.

Davis said when he was growing up in various houses around Southern California, the family decorated living trees that his dad later planted in the yard.

"I grew up in an environmentally friendly family," Davis said. "We always had these funny-looking trees in plastic pots."

On a recent visit to a former family home, Davis said one of the Christmas trees had grown as tall as the house.

For those who prefer trees from the corner lot, as Davis said he does now, there are alternatives to tossing it after the holidays.

Every year, thousands of fir and pine trees are thrown into the garbage bin and end up in landfills, Davis said.

Las Vegas residents, however, have increased their participation and recycled thousands of trees through the valley's mulching program over the past three years.

In some parts of the country, as much as 69 percent of evergreens is recycled for various environmentally friendly uses, including hiking trails, beachfront-erosion prevention and lake-shoreline stabilization, Davis said.

In Las Vegas, recycled trees are used as mulch for gardens and parks.

The mulch acts as a protective barrier for the roots of living plants and prevents weak growth. In addition, mulch helps plants retain water, an important feature in a drought-stricken environment. As mulch decomposes, it provides many nutrients that plants need.

The Springs Preserve and RB Soils are offering a free 5-pound bag -- enough to plant a small shrub or rose bush -- of compost to the first 1,000 participants who bring their trees to the Gardens at the Springs Preserve, a place where American Indian tribes and early Spanish explorers once stopped to refresh themselves in spring waters.

Compost is composed of rotted organic matter, and trees from past Christmases may well be part of this year's recycled compost. It takes seven months to compost green waste materials, such as recycled Christmas trees, Davis said.

Before dropping off trees, lights, ornaments and other decorations must be removed.

In addition to the Springs Preserve, sponsors of the Christmas tree recycling effort include Henderson, Las Vegas, Clark County Parks and Community Services, Conservation District of Southern Nevada, Las Vegas Valley Water District, Nevada Division of Forestry, UNLV Rebel recycling program, Par 3 Landscape/First Choice Tree Service and UNR Cooperative Extension Service.08