{"id":111204,"date":"2025-12-28T13:28:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T13:28:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/111204\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T13:28:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T13:28:07","slug":"ditch-the-tree-gently-and-ring-in-2026-long-beach-post","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/111204\/","title":{"rendered":"Ditch the tree (gently) and ring in 2026 \u2022 Long Beach Post"},"content":{"rendered":"

Doing Good in the LBC is a weekly newsletter where we\u2019ll share how to get involved and give back, and the latest goings-on of nonprofit organizations in Long Beach. Subscribe to all of our newsletters here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

It always makes me sad to see Christmas trees dumped on the sidewalk come January.<\/p>\n

Yesterday it was the centerpiece of your living room \u2014 today it\u2019s belly-down on the curb with a lone strand of tinsel.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Spare your tree the indignity of a landfill by dropping it off as part of the city\u2019s \u201ctreecycle\u201d service, which last year turned 155 tons of trees into landscaping mulch.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no cost, but you have to drop off your tree, sans decor, before Jan. 9. Find a list of 13 drop-off locations here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Move! <\/p>\n

Once you ditch the tree, deflate the blow-up Santa and wedge a massive ball of lights in an out-of-sight corner of the garage \u2014 next year\u2019s problem \u2014 consider getting active.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s tons of run signups<\/a> throughout the region, and a Downtown-based run club I\u2019ve heard good things about: Downtown Runners LB. The club meets Wednesdays at different pubs and restaurants, runs a bit, then imbibes a bit. Read more about them at the Downtown Long Beach Alliance<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

I hear pickleball is fun; find a list of courts in Long Beach here<\/a>. And if you\u2019re a swimmer, don\u2019t do it in the bay after it rains. Try one of these<\/a> (heated) public pools instead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Maybe hiking is your thing? Five years ago I wrote a list of the best hiking spots in or near Long Beach<\/a>, and I stand by it. If I had to pick one I\u2019d go with the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve \u2014 it\u2019s relatively flat, and very peaceful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

And if you plan to party like a beast on New Year\u2019s Eve \u2014 and who isn\u2019t? \u2014 here\u2019s a list of New Year\u2019s events happening locally<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Get busy <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a perfect chance to dip your toe gently into public service: Leadership Long Beach\u2019s Day of Service on MLK Day, this year Jan. 19. For several years now the nonprofit has amassed hundreds of volunteers on a single day to complete service projects across the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n

There\u2019s typically projects that require a variety of skills, from writing letters to outdoor labor. Learn more here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Think of us<\/p>\n

One parting plea, if you\u2019ll indulge me:<\/p>\n

Everything above \u2014 the quiet fixes, the local rituals, the small ways a city takes care of itself \u2014 depends on people paying attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what we try to do every day at the Long Beach Post<\/a>: notice things, ask questions, connect dots and share stories that help this place make a little more sense.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not free to do, and it\u2019s not easy, but it does matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you read us and find value here, consider making a donation to support the work<\/a>. Even a modest, recurring gift helps us continue the human reporting that makes a city feel like a community.<\/p>\n

Thank you so much for your readership and support this year. Here\u2019s to a happy 2026!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Doing Good in the LBC is a weekly newsletter where we\u2019ll share how to get involved and give…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111205,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-111204","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111204","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111204"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111204\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111205"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111204"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111204"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111204"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}