PARKERSBURG - The cities of Parkersburg and Marietta are providing locations where residents can drop off live Christmas trees.
In Parkersburg, drop-off points are set up at City Park and Southwood Park. People can drop off trees for recycling at the parking lot next to the basketball court in Southwood Park and at the parking lot between the baseball field and the swimming pool at City Park, said Rick Lemley, public works director for Parkersburg.
There is no cost to residents and these stations will be up until Feb. 1.
Mayor Bob Newell said trees left at the curb in front of people's houses will be picked up by sanitation department crews.
Marietta residents are asked to deposit their Christmas trees at Lookout Park, Indian Acres Park or Buckeye Park. Residents also can take their trees directly to Greenleaf Landscapes' composting station on Ohio 60.
"By recycling their trees, residents are creating the ability for (a composting station) to turn it into mulch and compost," said Jonathan Hupp, Marietta's safety-service director.
According to Todd Stockel, Marietta city streets department superintendent, "The Ohio Department of Natural Resources will pick up some of the trees, take them to a resort and put them in lakes to be fish habitat."
When Christmas trees are used as wildlife habitat, they provide shelter for creatures during the winter months, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' website.
Once the hundreds of live-cut trees expected to be left at the three Marietta locations have been dropped off, trees will be taken to Greenleaf's composting station.
Hupp said city staffers are "hoping citizens bring us trees and trees only."
If trees are dropped off that still have ornaments, garland, tinsel or other items on them, "that requires additional manpower from city street crews or public facilities' crews" to remove the items before Greenleaf will accept the trees, he said.
Those items can be harmful to the environment and wildlife, according to the ODNR website.
The three drop-off locations in Marietta will be open until Feb. 1.
There is no cost to Marietta residents to drop trees at any of the city parks.
