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NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Orleans Parish is encouraging all residents to recycle their Christmas trees to promote coastal restoration. Just place your tree at the curb on your regularly scheduled collection days between Jan. 7-9, 2016.

The program to promote the restoration of Louisiana’s wetlands and to assist in the protection of the Louisiana coastline

“As a coastal city, we must all take restoration seriously. This service is an easy way for our residents to help protect and restore our environment,” said Mayor Mitch Landrieu. “We can now use the trees that are typically thrown out as waste as an opportunity to provide critical support to help restore our wetlands and continue to build the resilience of our natural environment.”

The trees must be natural with all ornaments, tinsel, lights and tree stands removed. Flocked and artificial trees will not be collected for this program. Trees should not be placed on the neutral grounds or in plastic bags.

The City’s Department of Sanitation along with its solid waste contractors Metro Services, Richard’s Disposal and Empire Services; the Office of Coastal and Environmental Affairs; and Leaaf Environmental are working together to collect, sort, and bundle the trees, which will be placed in selected coastal zones.

This project is funded by the Office of Coastal and Environmental Affairs. In 2015, more than 6,965 Christmas trees were collected in Orleans Parish after the holidays and airlifted by the Louisiana National Guard into the Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge as part of a program to create new marsh habitat.

Residents seeking more information should call NOLA 3-1-1.

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