The San Jacinto River Authority expanded collection locations this year in order get more trees for underwater habitats.
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas — Montgomery County Precinct 3’s recycling center takes in all kinds of stuff, from old TVs and fluorescent lights to tires and cardboard.
Right now, undecorated Christmas trees are also piling up.
“We take recycling seriously, and so the nice thing about this is we know these trees are going to be put to good use in Lake Conroe,” said Commissioner Ritch Wheeler.
For the first time, Montgomery County precinct facilities serve as satellite drop-off sites for the San Jacinto River Authority’s Christmas tree collection drive.
The trees will later be clumped together and then sunk at various spots in Lake Conroe in coordination with Texas Parks & Wildlife.
“It provides a place for fish to go to hide, it helps with the lake’s food web, and it’s also a hotspot for anglers,” said SJRA communications manager, Michelle Simpson.
Close to 500 trees are expected to be deployed in the lake this year thanks to expanded collection sites.
“The most important piece is deployment,” said Simpson. “That’s why we encourage people not to actually do it themselves because you have to anchor them down, weigh them down so that you’re not creating navigational hazards across the lake.”
The sunken trees eventually disintegrate which is why collections occur after every Christmas, thus allowing the trees to serve another purpose.
“Which is way better than going in a landfill,” said Wheeler.
Here’s more information on when and where to drop off old, undecorated live trees.
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