The Wellesley Natural Resources Commission has issued a plea for people not to dump Christmas trees in trail areas and conservation land. Apparently, the NRC has been getting daily reports of dumping, and the reality is that trees without root systems aren’t going to spring back to life.
One Wellesley Trails Committee member dragged a tree out of the ice in Boulder Brook to be taken care of by the DPW. Trees have also been disposed of at Rocky Ledges and the vernal pool near Kelly Field.
While tossing a tree into the woods might seem like a natural enough thing to do, used Christmas trees can clog wetlands and take forever to decompose.
The Wellesley Recycling & Disposal Facility accepts all trees, grinds them into wood chips and uses them around town at playgrounds and for landscaping.
I grew up in Watertown. In the good old days (1940’s and 50’s), people would drag the Christmas trees out near the street. A town truck would come by and collect them. Hundreds of them would be piled in an open field or playground and there would be a great bonfire, all under the watchful eye of the fire department.