Give Mother Earth a gift, recycle your Christmas tree

Christmas tree-cycling is becoming a natural part of the way Putnam, Parke and Montgomery county residents give back to Mother Earth.

By recycling their trees, residents can help divert landfill-bound Christmas trees to fish and wildlife habitat, erosion control and mulch for flower beds and trees.

The West Central Solid Waste District encourages residents to recycle Christmas trees free of charge through Saturday, Jan. 26 at the following locations:

Putnam County/ Greencastle Yard Waste Site: County Road 200 West, just past the County Highway Department and DePauw Nature Center.

Lieber Park State Recreation Area: Office parking lot, 1317 W. Lieber Rd./State Road 243, near park entrance.

Raccoon Lake State Recreation Area: Nine miles east of Rockville on U.S. 36, then follow signs in park.

Rockville Lake Park: 828 N. Marshall Rd., follow the signs at the park entrance.

Crawfordsville: Yard waste drop-off site, 1151 N. Whitlock Ave.

Anyone wanting to use trees collected at the Greencastle site for their pond, lake or to stop erosion on their property may call the district office at 800-211-2750. All other trees will be used by the park or community affiliated with the collection site.

Residents are reminded to remove all decorations and do not put the tree in plastic bag.