TreeCycle community partnership keeps unsold Christmas trees from landfill
The Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva’s Green Sanctuary Team is again partnering with the Geneva Park District to provide local retailers an alternative to placing unsold Christmas trees in dumpsters and ultimately the landfill.
The project, named TreeCycle, has a dual purpose. The main objective is to keep trees out of landfills. The secondary benefit is the resulting mulch is placed throughout Geneva parks.
Carl Gorra, superintendent of parks and properties, formed a partnership with the church’s Green Sanctuary team in 2021.
For the fourth year, local tree retailers will be visited/contacted by volunteers of the Green Sanctuary team. In partnership with the park district, they will offer to take unsold trees and trimmings.
When sales are complete, the park district will go to the retailer’s site and chip them up.
As for program results, Gorra shared, “In the past three years, we have kept hundreds of trees out of the landfills, having turned them into a healthy mulch for our oak trees in the parks. We look forward to another successful year in what really is a win/win situation.”
Retailers are welcome to contact the Green Sanctuary team to participate in this endeavor. If your business would like to take advantage of this free service for the community, contact greensanctuary@uusg.org. Please note: Geneva residents have tree pickup through the city waste hauler, LRS. This endeavor is strictly retail.
About the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva
Founded in 1842, the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva is the oldest church in town, part of a centuries-old liberal religious tradition that values reason and free thought over dogma and creed. Led by the Rev. Scot Hull, it offers worship services and religious education programs that draw on diverse spiritual traditions, as well as outreach initiatives that advance social justice causes locally and around the world. Learn more at www.uusg.org.
About the Geneva Park District
Established in 1953, the Geneva Park District has over 35,000 program participants and offers over 3,500 programs that include preschool, a before & after school program, arts and crafts, trips, special events, athletics, dance, martial arts, cultural arts, gymnastics, tumbling, camps, toddler, youth, and adult programs.
Over the span of more than 50 years, the park district has made great strides in meeting the needs of a growing community. The park district has developed bike/pedestrian trails, playgrounds and parks, athletic fields, outdoor aquatic centers and water spraygrounds, a community center, a recreation center, two fitness centers, a community theater, a skate park, and a mini-golf course and a disc golf course, as well as acquired many acres of open space.
For information, visit www.genevaparks.org or call (630) 232-4542.