New Orleans’ Christmas tree recycling program, which aids coastal restoration, will begin on Friday and continue into the new year, the city’s Office of Resilience & Sustainability says.
From Dec. 26 through Jan. 4, residents can call 311 to request curbside pickup using the “Christmas Tree” service request. A contractor will collect the first 400 trees requested through 311.
From Jan. 5 through Jan. 9, trees can be placed on the curb by 5 a.m. on regular garbage collection days. A recycling truck will follow the regular garbage truck.
French Quarter and Downtown Development District residents should place trees curbside before 4 a.m. on Jan. 8 only.
Trees cannot be flocked or have remnants of tinsel. All ornamentation, lighting and tree stand bases must be removed before recycling pick up.
This year’s program is a partnership with the Glass Half Full recycling program and is sponsored by Gulf Coast Bank and Trust Company.
The city has partnered with the National Wildlife Federation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Army National Guard on the program for more than 25 years. Recycled trees are placed in wetlands at Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge to help protect marsh and shoreline by reducing wave action and slowing erosion.
The trees also create new habitat for wildlife. Recycled trees have so far restored marsh across an area equal to almost 200 football fields in Bayou Sauvage.
The 2024-25 program collected 9,000 trees, 1,000 more than the previous year, the city says. Other contributors of trees include City Park’s Celebration in the Oaks, A’s Toy Soldier, AB Tree Farms and Home Depot in New Orleans East.
The trees will be dropped by helicopter in the refuge in the spring. The project also provides training hours for pilots and crewmembers of the 1st Assault Helicopter Battalion, 244th Aviation Regiment.