Christmas Tree Recycling

Colorado Recycles has compiled a Christmas tree recycling guide at recycleyourchristmastree.com.

Aurora will be recycling Christmas trees Dec. 26 through Jan. 12 in the following locations: Del Mar Park, 6th and Peoria in the west parking lot; Olympic Park, 15501 E. Yale Ave.; Murphy Creek Golf Course, 1700 S. Old Tom Morris Road; and Saddle Rock Golf Course, 21705 E. Arapahoe Road.

For more cities and recycling locations, see the Denver Post article here.

Trash to Trees at the Inverness Hotel

Trash to Trees is a tree decorating contest at the Inverness Hotel that challenges students to use recycled or re-purposed items to decorate a holiday tree. It is aimed bring awareness to the importance of recycling during the holidays using a creative and educational approach targeted at school age children.. The trees are on display at the Inverness from December 5-14.

The Trash to Trees tree challenge was open to Arapahoe, Douglas County and Denver county 4th - 8th graders only. Each participating school was challenged to decorate a 5-foot tree using recycled or re-purposed items only. They selected a ‘theme’ to guide their decorations and a list of all the recycled items they used. Beyond those rules, students were encouraged to get creative!

The trees will be on display beginning Dec. 5 – Dec. 14 in the main lobby and along the main entrance hallways at The Inverness Hotel located at 200 Inverness Drive West, Englewood. The Inverness Hotel will invite the community to stop by the hotel Dec. 5 – Dec. 14 to cast their vote and enjoy complimentary cocoa and cookies. There will a total of 10 judging categories, such as Most Recycled Items Used; Best Tree Top Decoration; Most Original Decorating Theme; etc. The Inverness Hotel will tally the votes on Dec. 14 and list the winners on their Web site by Dec. 15.

Curbside composting in Denver

City recycling officials are stunned at the initial success of their curbside composting program, as volunteers for the pilot put 31 pounds of organics a week into their green bins instead of the expected 18 to 22.

Denver launched curbside composting bins in September for 3,000 homes in about a dozen selected neighborhoods. The green bins were picked up every week until the end of the fall leaf season and are now every other week, just like the purple recycling containers.
The organic waste — yard debris, food waste, vegetable greens, wet coffee filters, etc. — goes to a private composting facility for self-baking into garden soil. If the $215,000 state startup grant is successful, recycling officials will ask Denver to expand curbside composting throughout the city.

Read the article from the Denver Post....

Read more about Denver's composting program...

Holiday Ideas

Look for cards that contain recycled content or are actually recycled materials, make your own cards from scrap paper, or even use old cards as gift tags or something else creative!

Wrap boxes in magazine pages, the funny pages, or old maps. Think about using reusable containers like tins, baskets and boxes. If you do buy wrapping paper, look for recycled paper and reuse.

Give an environmentally-smart gift, such as a refillable thermos, a canvas tote bag, items made from recycled materials, homemade gifts, plants, concert/movies tickets, dinner out, candles, soap, seeds for next year’s garden, national parks pass, membership to the botanic gardens/zoo/aquarium.

Take your own tote bag shopping to avoid using a lot of plastic bags on just a few items.

Make your own ornaments from found objects, or use edible/compostable items.

Consider decorating with LED lights, which are up to 90 percent more efficient than the traditional incandescent. These newer bulbs are sturdy, last up to 100,000 hours (or 20 years) and barely warm up, eliminating fire concerns.

Use timers to limit light displays to no more than six evening hours a day. Leaving lights on 24 hours a day will quadruple your energy costs – and create four times the pollution.

Donate your unneeded clothes/jackets to a shelter for the needy.

Share your ideas for being more green this holiday season!