Uptown Messenger
Flocked trees cannot be recycled.
Garbage truck hoppers and drivers get the day off on Christmas and New Year’s Day but will be working harder for the rest of the week. Not only do the celebrations generate more trash, but the pickup days are staggered and a Sunday pickup day is added to the schedule.
For the next two weeks, residents with a Monday trash day need to bring their garbage bin to the curb on Tuesday. If your trash or recycling is normally picked up on Tuesday, it will be picked on Wednesday.
And so on through the week, until the Saturday garbage is picked up on Sunday.
The schedule will be repeated in the first week of 2024. Any missed collections should be reported to 311.
Uptown Messenger
Christmas trees will be collected from the curb beginning Jan. 8.
Christmas tree recycling
The city continues its Christmas tree recycling program this holiday season to help restore and protect the Louisiana coastline.
Residents are asked to place their trees curbside before 5 a.m. on their regularly scheduled trash collection day from Jan. 8 through Jan. 13.
Trees cannot be flocked or have remnants of tinsel, and all lights and ornaments should be removed before placing them on the curb.
For over 25 years, the city’s Christmas Tree Recycling Program has contributed to the restoration of the Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge. The trees are put to good use protecting wetlands while also keeping them out of landfills.
Recycled trees have restored an area of marsh equal to approximately 200 football fields, the city reported. The trees also create an important habitat for birds, fish, crabs, crawfish and shrimp. The goal is to collect 10,000 trees this year.
The program is coordinated by the Office of Resilience and Sustainability and Department of Sanitation, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Louisiana Army National Guard.
“Our wetlands are our first line of protection from storm surge and hurricanes,” said ORS Environmental Affairs Administrator Cheryn Robles in a press release. “The Christmas tree recycling program is a great way for residents to get involved in the fight to restore our coast.”
The trees are sorted, bundled and airlifted by a helicopter to be dropped in targeted sections of the Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge.
The project also provides valuable training hours for pilots and crewmembers of the 1st Assault Helicopter Battalion, 244th Aviation Regiment.
To learn more, go to nola.gov/
Uptown Messenger
Christmas trees left on the curb are dropped targeted sections of the Bayou Sauvage Urban National Wildlife Refuge.
