Posted on: Thursday, January 9, 2003

EDITORIAL
Yule tree recycling needs better effort

Let's not let a glitch, admittedly a major one, give anyone the idea of abandoning the worthwhile — even indispensable — effort to recycle discarded Christmas trees.

The glitch is that too many trees are being dropped off at recycling sites days or even weeks before chipping operations are scheduled, thus creating an unacceptable fire hazard. Adjustments are needed.

As with every year in the past, we're going to see thousands of discarded trees at this time. There's no landfill space to accommodate them, and feeding them through wood chippers produces useful compost.

One hitch that's not likely to be repeated involved the Jan. 4 special congressional election, with polling places at some of the recycling sites. That's why the chipping operations were delayed until this coming Saturday, long after trees have turned brown and become highly combustible.

It simply remains to make this good idea better. We urge city and state officials to put their heads together to better coordinate their efforts.