Recycle holiday greens at NOVEC’s Gainesville site

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 from Dec. 28 through Jan. 10.

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.

On Jan. 18, 2015, a 15-foot Fraser fir Christmas tree that 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 has put 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.”

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

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, extension 1633 or 1661.