THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, December 28, 1994           TAG: 9412240114
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON    PAGE: 12   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Short :   50 lines

KEEP THAT TREE UP A LITTLE LONGER BEFORE THINKING OF RECYCLING IT

Hold on to those Christmas trees for a few weeks if you want to recycle them.

Any trees left at the curb before Jan. 9 will be placed in the landfill with the rest of the garbage instead of being recycled.

That's because city garbage trucks will be busy collecting all the extra bags and boxes of trash generated during the holidays.

Starting Jan. 9, Christmas trees (free of lights, tinsel and ornaments) will be collected for recycling on normal collection days, along with other yard waste.

The trees will be hauled to the Mount Trashmore II landfill off Centerville Turnpike, where they will be mixed with other yard waste and ground into mulch.

Debra C. Devine, city recycling coordinator, said it's cost-prohibitive to pick up trees and yard waste earlier because extra trucks are already dispatched to handle the extra volume of garbage.

For information, call the city's Waste Management Division at 430-2450.

In addition to the city's mulching operation, there are other ways to recycle your Christmas tree.

Seashore State Park is accepting trees daily through mid-January to be used in its sand dune replenishment project.

Trees, free of tinsel and ornaments, may be brought to the campground area off Shore Drive (follow the signs) from 8 a.m. until dusk.

The park typically gets 2,000 to 4,000 trees. About 500 are used for dune-replenishment while the rest are chipped into mulch to be used in the campground area and on trails around the park.

Volunteers are needed to build the dunes, grind the trees and spread the mulch.

Any extra Christmas trees are donated to Fort Story for its dune replenishment program.

For information, call Seashore State Park at 481-2131.

The city's beach-management division also uses Christmas trees for sand dune replenishment at the North End beaches, Sandbridge, Little Island Park and Chesapeake Bay beaches.

You must haul your own trees to a specified location. Pickups will only be scheduled for quantities of 50 or more. To learn how to donate a tree for city dune replenishment, call 437-4824. by CNB