{"id":81709,"date":"2025-12-26T17:46:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-26T17:46:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/81709\/"},"modified":"2025-12-26T17:46:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-26T17:46:07","slug":"mulch-ado-about-nothing-say-good-bough-to-your-christmas-tree-at-mulchfest-2025-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/81709\/","title":{"rendered":"Mulch ado about nothing! Say good-bough to your Christmas tree at Mulchfest 2025 \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"mulchfest\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bid your Christmas tree farewell at Mulchfest 2025!<\/p>\n

File photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Thanks very mulch!\n<\/p>\n

Christmas is over and New Year\u2019s Eve is a week away, but Mulchfest<\/a> \u2014 New York City\u2019s annual \u201ctree-cycling\u201d program \u2014 has arrived to fill the festive gap.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The thousands of live Christmas trees sold around Brooklyn this season are reaching the end of their lives, and Mulchfest is an easy and eco-friendly way to say fir-well to those beloved boughs.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From Dec. 26-Jan. 11, Brooklynites can drop their trees off at one of 23 Mulchfest locations across the borough, where they\u2019ll gather in fragrant piles until the parks department chips them<\/a> into fresh mulch.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"mulchfestDrop your tree off at one of 12 Mulchfest locations starting Dec. 26. Photo by Kirstyn Brendlen<\/p>\n

That nutrient-rich mulch will then be used in parks, tree beds and gardens around the city. According to the parks department, mulch helps to prevent weeds and soil compaction, maintain moisture, and keeps plant roots warm in freezing wintertime temperatures.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Mulching is a green way to dispose of the trees, too. Live Christmas trees are generally considered more sustainable<\/a> than fake ones, but tossing them responsibly is important. In a landfill, organic matter can\u2019t decompose properly, and \u201crecycling<\/a>\u201d a live tree reduces its environmental impact even further.\u00a0<\/p>\n

More than 52,000 trees were recycled at last year\u2019s Mulchfest, per the parks department, and they\u2019re hoping to get even more this year.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

The last weekend of Mulchfest, Jan. 10 and 11, is \u201cChipping Weekend.\u201d On those days, you can bring your tree to a select Mulchfest location to watch your tree get chipped, then take home a bag of mulch to use in your own garden or street tree bed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"mulchfestOn Chipping Weekend, bring home a bag of fresh mulch for your own home garden! File photo courtesy of Daniel Avila\/NYC Parks<\/p>\n

Even if you don\u2019t have a tree, some orgs, like the Prospect Park Alliance<\/a> and Cobble Hill Association are looking for volunteers to help out with Chipping Weekend.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Find a full list of Mulchfest and Chipping Weekend sites below. Before you drop off your tree, be sure to remove all lights, decorations and netting from your tree.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you can\u2019t make it to Mulchfest \u2014 or you want to keep your tree up a while longer \u2014 the Department of Sanitation<\/a> also picks up trees and wreaths as part of regular curbside service. In that case, remove all decorations, lights and ornaments and set your greenery on the curb, without a bag, on your usual compost\/recycling pickup day. Live trees collected at the curb are also mulched.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To toss an artificial tree that\u2019s reached the end of its life, disassemble it to recycle the metal \u201ctrunk\u201d and base with your usual recycling. The rest of the tree can be thrown in the regular trash.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"kid\u2018Recycling\u2019 your Christmas tree in Brooklyn is easy, with almost two dozen Mulchfest locations. File photo by Jordan Rathkopf<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Mulchfest<\/a> Drop-Off sites, available anytime from Dec. 26-Jan. 11:<\/p>\n

Amazon Garden, 261 Columbia St. in Red Hook
\nBrooklyn Bridge Park Pier 3 in Dumbo
\nBrooklyn Bridge Park Pier 5, near Oddfellows Ice Cream in Dumbo
\nBrooklyn Bridge Park, Dock Street entrance near Water Street in Dumbo
\nBrooklyn Bridge Park, Jay Street entrance near John Street in Dumbo
\nBrooklyn Heights Promenade at Columbia Heights and Cranberry Street in Brooklyn Heights
\nBrower Park at Brooklyn Avenue and Prospect Place in Crown Heights
\nCobble Hill Park at Clinton Street and Verandah Place in Cobble Hill
\nCoffey Park at Dwight and Verona streets in Red Hook
\nDomino Park at River and South 3rd streets in Williamsburg
\nFort Greene Park at Washington Park and Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene
\nGreene Space at President Street, 222 5th Avenue in Park Slope
\nHerbert Von King Park at Marcy and Lafayette avenues in Bed-Stuy
\nMaria Hernandez Park at Suydam Street and Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick
\nMarine Park at East 33rd Street and Avenue U in Marine Park
\nMcCarren Park at Lorimer Street and Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg
\nMcGolrick Park at Monitor Street and Driggs Avenue in Greenpoint
\nMyrtle Village Green at 636 Myrtle Avenue in Bed-Stuy
\nOwl\u2019s Head Park at 68th Street and Colonial Road in Bay Ridge
\nProspect Park at Lincoln Road and Ocean Avenue
\nProspect Park at Park Circle and Parkside Avenue
\nProspect Park at Prospect Park West and 3rd Street
\nSunset Park at 44th Street and 6th Avenue in Sunset Park
\nWashington Park at 3rd Street and 5th Avenue in Gowanus<\/p>\n

\"mulchfest\"Brooklynites celebrated Chipping Weekend in Park Slope in 2023. File photo by Gabriele Holtermann<\/p>\n

Chipping Weekend sites, Jan. 10+11, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (Drop-off available any time)<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Bridge Park Pier 3 in Dumbo
\nCobble Hill Park at Clinton Street and Verandah Place in Cobble Hill
\nDomino Park at River Street and South 3rd Street in Williamsburg
\nFort Greene Park at Washington Park and Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene
\nMaria Hernandez Park at Suydam Street and Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick
\nMarine Park at East 33rd Street and Avenue U in Marine Park
\nMcCarren Park at Lorimer Street and Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg
\nOwl\u2019s Head Park at 68th Street and Colonial Road in Bay Ridge
\nProspect Park, Park Circle at Parkside Avenue
\nProspect Park, Prospect Park West and 3rd Street\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bid your Christmas tree farewell at Mulchfest 2025! File photo by Gabriele Holtermann Thanks very mulch! Christmas is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81710,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[2725,6879,98,16561,100,99,40330,12729,20164,40331,40332,38493,8991,18481,40333,3242,40334,40335,40336,9,24,12,370,63,22458,1097,15739,40337,4304,40338],"class_list":["post-81709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-2725","tag-6879","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-bridge-park","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-chipping-weekend","tag-christmas-tree","tag-christmas-trees","tag-cobble-hill-park","tag-compost","tag-department-of-parks-and-recreation","tag-department-of-sanitation","tag-dsny","tag-eco-friendly","tag-environment","tag-mulch","tag-mulchfest","tag-mulchfest-2025","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-nyc-parks","tag-plants","tag-prospect-park","tag-throw-away-christmas-tree","tag-trash","tag-wreaths"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}