Keep Troup Beautiful is urging locals to hold on to their live Christmas trees for one more week. 

On Jan. 4, KTB will hosts the annual nationwide activity named Bring One for the Chipper. 

“The original idea has been going on for about close to 30 years,” said Keep Troup Beautiful’s Executive Director Scott Landa. “It comes from Keep America Beautiful. Instead of families throwing away their used, live Christmas trees, and throwing them out into a landfill, the Keep America Beautiful group proposed that these trees be collected and chipped up. It’ll keep the trees out of the landfill. Plus, the trees will be used for good.” 

Trees dropped off will be chipped up and used for mulch and by the Corps of Engineers to be used as habitats in the lakes for fish. 

“We are also welcoming other recyclables,” Landa said. “The traditional recyclables of plastic bottles, pans and cardboard [can be dropped off]. We kind of emphasize that that is a great day to turn those recyclables in, especially after Christmas. Rather than putting them in the landfill, it is a great way to go ahead and recycle.” 

KTB will also be collecting used, non-functioning electronics the day of the event. 

“We urge people to bring their old computer or printers, if they got a new one for Christmas,” Landa said. “We want those to be turned in to be recycled. We can accept just about everything, except televisions.” 

KTB will be collecting the trees, electronics and other recyclables at two locations in Troup County. 

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. locals can drop their recyclable items off for free at the LaGrange Recycling Center under the water tower at Lafayette Parkway and S. Davis Road, and across from Hogansville City Hall on Main Street in Hogansville. 

A dumpster for non-commercial tires will also be at both locations as well. 

“We will be giving away tree seedlings free of charge, thanking people for bringing their recyclables by,” Landa said. 

Events like these are critical for landfills to have long lifespans. 

“Things that go into a landfill take up space, and that shortens the life of a landfill,” Landa said. “The less stuff we fill the landfills with, the longer that landfill will last. As far as recyclables, they can be turned back into something useful. That’s what is very important. Without taking more recourses from the earth to make stuff new, we can recycle and create new things out of old things.”