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Politics & Government

Post Christmas Recycling Programs Kick In

Trees and holiday lights can be recycled through the end of January

As people try to decide to what to do with that ugly sweater they were given as a gift, they also have another post-Christmas chore to deal with: getting the Christmas tree out of the house.

For Evanston residents, that task becomes somewhat easier on Monday as that is the first day city crews will start hauling away trees.

“We pick up the same as the days of recycling and refuse pickup,” noted Paul D’Agostino, the city’s superintendent of parks and forestry. “So if your day is Monday, we will be there on Monday.”

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Crews will be picking up trees for five weeks through the end of January, according to D’Agostino, who cautioned residents have to do some work in the process as well. “They need to be clean of all decorations and placed on the parkway, which is the area between the sidewalk and the street,” he said. “They can’t be in alleys because our equipment can’t get through some of the alleys.”

However, the city is taking certain holiday lights as well in another recycling program as certain types of bulbs are being accepted at the Evanston Ecology Center, the main city library and the Levy Senior Center through January 31.

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More and more residents are taking advantage of the recycling opportunities, D’Agostino said. “We used to take about three weeks to get through everybody’s trees, now it takes about five weeks.”

If anyone is curious about the specifics of Christmas tree recycling, D’Agostino said the trees are tossed into a chipper and eventually become mulch.

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