The Christmas Tree.
Responsible for many long standing, family traditions and the hub of joy on Christmas morning. Also the source of the endless pine needles you will be finding in your car for years to come, not to mention the extra unwanted cost at the end of the festive season for its disposal. There's no denying that a real tree adds that extra Christmas magic, but can cause unnecessary hassle when the New Year comes around.
That's why Anglian Waste Recycling offered their time and vans to help the local community to responsibly dispose of their 2022 Christmas trees, all whilst raising money for a good cause.
What's the best way to dispose of a real Christmas tree?
The festive period is over for another year and it's time to throw out your Christmas tree that's not looking as green as it once did. But how can you dispose of your tree? Recycling your real tree is a fantastic way of responsibly reusing what was once the centrepiece of your Christmas, and it's a better alternative than leaving it to rot at the bottom of your garden.
Often, your local recycling centre will accept Christmas trees, however, you will have to transport it there yourself during their opening hours, and sometimes pay a small disposal fee.
Thankfully, an East Anglian based charity have come up with a responsible and convenient solution to disposing your real tree.
The Tree-Cycling Scheme
The East Anglia's Children's Hospice (EACH) have created a wonderful Christmas tree recycling scheme that organises an annual collection service across the whole of the region, covering Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. This years collections took place on 12th - 13th January.
The two day event invited households across East Anglia to register their Christmas tree with the charity where EACH then organised routes for volunteers to collect the trees from the participants' house.
This year a variety of businesses came together to lend a hand with the collections, including big names such as Co-op, Sky, Amazon, Kier, as well as many local business too, such as Trott Rentals, LCA Garden Services, Landscaping by Bangs and Norfolk and Suffolk 4x4 Response. This is the second year running where Anglian Waste Recycling have taken part across both days, donating both man power and a van to cover the Norfolk routes.
The scheme is a convenient way for households across East Anglia to dispose of their tree. There is no transporting involved for the registrant, all they have to do is take their decorations off and make sure the tree is accessible for the teams by placing it outside their front door - that means no pine needles in cars or having to make time to visit a recycling centre during their opening hours. Even better, the owner of the tree doesn't need to be at home when collection takes place. All routes are planned and assigned to volunteers by EACH - the collection routes and drop off points are optimised to maximise efficiency to be as environmentally friendly as possible.
Once a van is full, the drivers will unload at a local drop off point and will resume their route until all trees are collected.
In return for the responsible recycling of the Christmas trees, registrants are encouraged to make a voluntary donation to EACH who support children and young people who are living with life-threatening conditions across our region.
Why recycle a real Christmas tree?
All of the trees unloaded at the drop off points after the two days will be organised by EACH to be recycled and reused in a variety of ways, including composting, animal enrichment at a community farm or chipped for a variety of uses. EACH are always looking for alternative sustainable ways to recycle their trees, so welcome suggestions.
All for a good cause
After a busy two days, a total of 2,200 Christmas trees were collected across the East Anglia region, and EACH are pleased to have raised £23,000 thanks to the kind donations of registrants. It was a pleasure to take part in this scheme to help the local community, whilst raising money for a great cause. We would like to thank the Anglian staff who volunteered their time to drive across Norfolk collecting trees, in addition to all of the generous donations - these will make a huge difference to EACH.
"The dedication, enthusiasm and time given from both of the people sent by Anglian has been incredible and greatly appreciated." - Ellie Miller, EACH Community Fundraiser - Norfolk.
To make a donation to EACH, visit here.
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