Now That Christmas Is Over, Reuse…and Recycle!

What to do with that live Christmas tree once you take it down for the holidays? And what about all those leftover gift wrappings?  Shreveport Green's Donna Curtis says, since we don't have a statewide tree recycling program anymore, there are a couple of other useful things you can do with it. For instance, you could cut it up and use it as mulch...or bring it to your favorite fishing spot to use as a fish habitat.

As for those bags, boxes, tissue paper and other wrappings -- you can recycle a lot of that. One exception would be any foil-type wrapping paper. You can put all that in your blue bins, if you live in Shreveport. Bossier City residents who don't have those yet have a place to bring recyclables. The Bossier City Recycling Center is located at 3001 Old Shed Road, between Highway 80 and Shed Rd. There are bins for paper, boxes, cans -- even glass bottles.

Curtis does recommend reusing whatever you can as your number one option. "If you don't use cloth bags at the grocery store, make sure you reuse your plastic bags," she says. "We've been using them all over the place to package vegetables...and fruits." (I use mine as trash bags for the bathroom can. And I save all the gift bags, tissue paper and clothing boxes for use on next year's gifts.)