Geneva 'Treecycle' Program To Help Keep Christmas Trees From Landfill For 4th Year

GENEVA, IL — The Geneva Park District is partnering with the Unitarian Universalist Society of Geneva for the fourth year of "Treecycle," a program that turns unpurchased Christmas trees into mulch for Geneva parks.

Through the program, volunteers from the church's Green Sanctuary team will visit local tree retailers and offer to take unsold trees and trimmings for park district staff to turn into mulch to be placed throughout Geneva parks, rather than letting them end up in landfills.

Carl Gorra, superintendent of parks and properties at the park district, formed a partnership with UUSG's Green Sanctuary team in 2021.

"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," Gorra said in a statement. "We look forward to another successful year in what really is a win/win situation."

Retailers are also welcome to contact volunteers and take advantage of the free program by emailing greensanctuary@uusg.org.

"Our hope is not to miss anyone, and to keep this an annual offering," organizers wrote in a news release.

The program is only for retailers. Geneva residents will have to drop their Christmas trees off at the curb after the holidays for pickup by the city's waste hauler, LRS.