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The smell of fresh pine may be a delight to wake up to on Christmas morning. But as the crisp smell fades and Las Vegas creeps up on the new year, Las Vegas’ sustainability groups don’t want Christmas trees anywhere near landfills.

Now that Christmas is over, a way to give back to our community has returned. Recycling your old Christmas tree could bring life to open spaces all across our valley, so before you toss your tree in the trash, a more environmentally friendly way is available.

Southern Nevada residents are encouraged to recycle their Christmas trees after the holiday season, contributing to a sustainable community effort that has been ongoing for nearly 30 years.

Between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve, the EPA estimates that waste in the U.S. increases by more than 25%, or by about 1 million tons. That’s 2 billion pounds of garbage.

51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ became the first school in the Nevada System of Higher Education to launch a plan to address climate change, unveiling it at a kickoff event on Friday afternoon. Known as the Rebel Climate Action Plan (CAP), the document is a roadmap for how the school will meet its goal of slashing its greenhouse gas emissions 50 percent by 2030 and becoming net zero by the university’s 100th birthday in 2057. Net zero refers to a state where the carbon dioxide 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ is putting into the atmosphere is offset with the amount removed, thus not contributing to warming.

For more than 30 years, Nevada has asked households to recycle 25 percent of qualified materials — plastics, paper, aluminum and more. It’s not a mandate. And in 2021, Nevada’s division of environmental protection said 24 percent had been reached. That means just one out of four recyclable materials are thrown into the light-blue recycle bin in Southern Nevada. Part of the reason it might not be more is that people still have questions over what is and what isn’t recyclable.

Many if not all apartments or condos do not offer recycling services. When Las Vegas valley resident Jennifer Turchin wants to recycle she drives to the north part of town to drop off recycling items.

The recycled trees will be chipped into mulch and donated to a non-profit, Green Our Planet, for use in Clark County school gardens.