Purdue Extension Service
Purdue Extension Service
Vanderburgh County, Indiana
The following pictures were taken during the Vanderburgh County annual Holiday Recycling Day, held January 7, 2006 at the Evansville Civic Center Parking Lot. Click on any of the thumbnails to open a full-sized version of the picture.
All photos copyrighted by Larry Caplan, and may not be used without written permission. Contact Larry Caplan for information.
It's 8:00 am...where's the cars?
Ah...Here come the vehicles!
The Holiday Recycling Day began as a way to keep Christmas trees out of the landfill after the holidays. These woody trees don't decompose in the landfill, and their tough, springy branches prevent them from compacting really well.
Christmas trees are unloaded from people's cars by Master Gardener volunteers.
The Christmas trees are run through a commercial chipper. Randy's Tree Service of Evansville has donated their equipment and crew for this event for the last several years, which we are grateful for!
The resulting wood chips are given away, free of charge, to gardeners for use as mulch. Many people will gladly take a bag or box of chips.
Some people really know a good thing when they see it, often waiting over half an hour for a pickup truck load of free mulch.
Master Gardeners take a breather while waiting for the next batch of trees to be chipped.
Our dedicated crew waiting for the next carload of trees to come by. In 2006, we chipped 333 trees!
Master Gardener Ernie Hicks directs traffic and hands out information on recycling to our "customers."
It's a lonely job, but Master Gardeners keep our visitors safe by directing traffic.
Not only Christmas trees are recycled! Master Gardeners unload, sort, and then containerize other recyclables, including newspaper, plastic, glass, aluminum and steel cans, and household batteries.
Master Gardeners get their backs into it, and load aluminum, glass, and plastic into the two trailers.
Joe Ballard and Susan Jeffries of the Vanderburgh Co. Solid Waste District are very busy...um...overseeing things.
Master Gardeners sort through magazines and books, looking for hidden treasurers before they are recycled.
Master Gardeners dressed for the weather. I think these guys may be from Canada, eh?
The proceeds from the recycled materials go to benefit the educational programming at Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve. Volunteers from Wesselman Woods spent much of their time explaining how to sort and package the recyclable products, to provide a usable product at the recycling company.
Click here to learn more about the Southwestern Indiana Master Gardeners Association, Inc.