Talkin’ Trash Tuesday: Put the Grinding of the Greens on your calendar

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - In today’s Talkin’ Trash Tuesday, make plans now to know what to do with your Christmas tree when the Christmas season is over. Keep them out of the landfills by giving them new life through the annual Grinding of the Greens. The anti-litter group, Keep the Midlands Beautiful, has a program to recycle your trees into mulch.

Then you’re able to return in mid-January to pick up that mulch at a location in Richland and Lexington County - for free! Alpine Tree Care provides the grinding.

Keep the Midlands Beautiful estimates that last year alone, the program kept 132,190 pounds of trees out of the landfill. That’s about 4,406 trees.

Here are the drop-off locations:

Lexington County:

Crooked Creek Park - 1098 Old Lexington Highway, Chapin. (By Chapin Middle School) Daily 7:30 a.m. - 11 p.m.

Hollow Creek Tree Farm – 228 Windmill Rd., Gilbert. Daily 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Saxe Gotha Presbyterian Church – 5503 Sunset Blvd., Lexington. Daily 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Seven Oaks Park - 200 Leisure Lane, Columbia (by the intersection of St. Andrews & Piney Grove). Daily 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Edmund C&D Landfill & Compost Facility – 498 Landfill Lane, Lexington, SC 29073. M-Sat 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

City of Columbia:

Compost Facility – 121 Humane Lane, Columbia (off Shop Road across from SPCA). M-F 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Richland County:

Caughman Road Park – 2733 Trotter Rd., Hopkins M-F 2-9 p.m., Sat 9 a.m. - 8 p.m. Sun – 1-6 p.m.

Friarsgate Park – 1712 Chadford Rd., Irmo. M-F 2-9 p.m., Sat 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sun 1-6 p.m.

Polo Road Park – 800 Polo Rd., Columbia. M-F 2-9 p.m., Sat 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sun 1-6 p.m.

St. Andrews Park - 920 Beatty Rd., Columbia. M-W-F 2-9 p.m., Sat 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sun 1-6 p.m.

Richland Co. C&D Landfill Drop-off Center – 1070 Caughman Rd. North, Columbia (off Monticello). M-F 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Sat 7 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.. Note: tree recycling is not guaranteed at the Richland County C&D Landfill.

The more trees dropped off, the more trees kept from the landfills. And the more mulch you can have for your yards. Again, for free.

The pickup will then be on Jan. 15 at the State Farmer’s Market at 3483 Charleston Highway in West Columbia and at Seven Oaks Park at 200 Leisure Lane in Columbia.

If you have any questions, call 803-733-1139 or go to www.keepthemidlandseautiful.org.

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