Many people are clearing out the Christmas tree, getting rid of wrapping paper and trying to figure out what to do with old electronics. But you don’t have to throw that stuff away. In Anchorage, you can recycle it.
Instead of making an extra post-holiday trip to the dump, Donna Mears, the recycling coordinator with the Municipality of Anchorage, suggests taking advantage of several recycling programs. She says it’s very easy to recycle Christmas trees in Anchorage.
“Alaskans for Litter Prevention and Recycling has been coordinating a Christmas tree recycling program for a number of years. The spots are at the Carrs stores. And bring your undecorated tree, live tree. No stands, no ornaments and no wreaths,” Mears said.
That program is free. The drop-off sites are at all Anchorage and Palmer Carrs/Safeway stores. It runs through Jan. 15. The trees are made into fragrant wood chips for use on local trails. And if you can’t drop off your tree, you can call the Boy Scouts to pick it up, for a small fee. As for wrapping paper and old electronics, there’s a chance to recycle them at this weekend’s Aces Hockey games.
“The municipality is teaming up with the Alaska Aces this holiday season with some other partners – Total Reclaim and Green Star and others – to have a holiday recycling program at the Colorado series this coming weekend. So that’s the 28th, 29th and 31st. We’re taking wrapping paper and small electronics because we find that people tend to have these things in their drawers and they tend to multiply after the holidays,” Mears said.
Anybody bringing wrapping paper or electronics in for recycling will be entered to win a signed goalie stick. If you can’t make it to the games, you can recycle wrapping paper and electronics on your own. There are a number of places to get rid of wrapping paper – in curbside recycling carts or by dropping it off at the Anchorage regional landfill or at the Anchorage Recycling Center. But Mears says, please, no tissue paper, foiled paper or ribbons in with the wrapping paper. For electronics , you can drop off at Total Reclaim, which takes electronics recycling year-round.
Daysha Eaton is a contributor with the Alaska Public Radio Network.
Daysha Eaton holds a B.A. from Evergreen State College, and a M.A. from the University of Southern California. Daysha got her start in radio at Seattle public radio stations, KPLU and KUOW. Before coming to KBBI, she was the News Director at KYUK in Bethel. She has also worked as the Southcentral Reporter for KSKA in Anchorage.
Daysha's work has appeared on NPR's "Morning Edition" and "All Things Considered", PRI's "The World" and "National Native News". She's happy to take assignments, and to get news tips, which are best sent via email.
Daysha became a journalist because she believes in the power of storytelling. Stories connect us and they help us make sense of our world. They shed light on injustice and they comfort us in troubled times. She got into public broadcasting because it seems to fulfill the intention of the 4th Estate and to most effectively apply the freedom of the press granted to us through the Constitution. She feels that public radio has a special way of moving people emotionally through sound, taking them to remote places, introducing them to people they would not otherwise meet and compelling them to think about issues they might ordinarily overlook.
