NOVEC will recycle holiday greenery and trees at Gainesville office until Jan. 9

Beginning Dec. 26 and going through Jan. 9, Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative will accept evergreen Christmas trees, wreaths, and garland at its technical center at 5399 Wellington Branch Road, Gainesville, VA 20155, near I-66

Customers may leave greenery in the front parking lot in the area designated by orange safety cones. Greens must be free of all decorations, metal ornament hooks, and light strings.

NOVEC tree crews will chop greens into wood chips and deliver wood-chip mulch to interested Co-op members at no charge when right-of-way crews are working in their neighborhoods. Members interested in free wood-chip mulch should complete the request form at http://www.novec.com/mulch  .

In January 2015, a 15-foot Fraser fir Christmas tree, which had been cut 65 days earlier, caught on fire in a Maryland home. Tragically, six family members died. According to the National Fire Protection Association, home fires started by Christmas trees are three times more deadly than most home fires because dry trees go up in flames in seconds.

“We urge everyone who puts up a cut Christmas tree to water it daily and then take it down right after the holidays,” says Mike Curtis, NOVEC vice president, Public Relations. “The longer it stays up, the drier it becomes, and the more dangerous.”

For more information about recycling holiday greens or obtaining mulch, contact NOVEC’s right-of-way department at 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500.

About NOVEC
NOVEC, headquartered in Manassas, Virginia, is a not-for-profit electric utility corporation that supplies and distributes electricity and energy-related services to more than 164,000 metered customers in Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford, and Clarke counties, the City of Manassas Park, and Clifton. It is one of the largest electric companies of its kind in the nation. For more information, visit http://www.novec.com or call 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500.