As the holiday decorations come down Ocean County officials are encouraging residents to recycle their Christmas trees. The Ocean County Parks and Recreation Department is accepting live trees to be recycled at its parks and golf courses.
Trees dropped off at the county's parks are ground up into mulch which is used by the county for landscaping, slope stabilization at Ocean County Natural Lands sites, and trail work throughout the Ocean County Park system.
The mulch also is made available to county residents at no charge for use at their homes.
Christmas trees can be dropped off at the county parks through Jan. 31 or can be taken to the county's recycling centers, which are open Mondays through Saturdays, 7:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Ocean County Park donation sites:
- Cattus Island County Park, 1170 Cattus Island Boulevard., Toms River
- Cloverdale Farm County Park, 34 Cloverdale Road, Barnegat Township
- Wells Mills County Park, 905 Route #532, Ocean Township (Waretown)
- Ocean County Park, 659 Ocean Avenue, Lakewood
- Beaver Dam County Park, 3430 Bridge Avenue, Point Pleasant
- Jake Branch County Park, 1100 Double Trouble Road, Beachwood
- Mill Creek County Park, 11 Chelsea Avenue, Berkeley Township
- Enos Pond County Park, 330 East Lacey Road, Forked River
- Robert J. Miller Airpark, 901 Route 530, Berkeley Township
- Freedom Fields County Park, 1160 Route #539, Little Egg Harbor Township
- Patriots County Park, 485 Bowman Road, Jackson Township
- Stanley H."Tip" Seaman County Park, 120 Lakeside Drive, Tuckerton
- A. Paul King County Park, 2 W. Bay Avenue, Stafford Township
- Ocean County Golf Course at Atlantis, 261 Country Club Boulevard, Little Egg Harbor Township
- Ocean County Golf Course at Forge Pond, 301 Chambers Bridge Avenue, Brick Township