Holiday Tree Recycling Continues Through Feb. 1 In Lake County

LAKE COUNTY, IL — For those who are still waiting to take down their Christmas tree, there is still time to drop it off at several local forest preserve sites in Lake County.

The donated Christmas trees will be recycled and used as wood chips for trails and landscaping at forest preserves sites in Lake County. All real and undecorated trees can be dropped off from 6:30 a.m. through sunset daily through Feb. 1 at the following locations:

• Grant Woods Forest Preserve, 25405 W. Monaville Road, Ingleside
• Greenbelt Forest Preserve, 1110 Green Bay Road, North Chicago
• Half Day Forest Preserve, 24255 Milwaukee Ave., Vernon Hills
• Heron Creek Forest Preserve, 22890 N. Old McHenry Road, Lake Zurich
• Lakewood Forest Preserve, 27277 Forest Preserve Road, Wauconda
• Old School Forest Preserve, 28285 St. Mary's Road, Mettawa
• Ryerson Conservation Area 21950 N. Riverwoods Road, Riverwoods
• Van Patten Woods Forest Preserve, 15838 W. Route 173, Wadsworth

No yard waste or commercial drop-offs are accepted.

The Lake County Forest Preserves has been accepting trees for recycling for at least 20 years, and most years more than 1,000 trees are donated.

The majority of the trees are mulched for use on trail but some are used to create "fish cribs." Fish cribs are made by staffers who tie several trees together and sink them with a cinderblock in larger lakes, particularly those that were formerly gravel quarries and lack substantial underwater vegetation.

These lakes benefit from the fish cribs, as they serve as crucial habitats for fish, according to news release.