Christmas tree recycling scheme gets under way

Our Christmas tree recycling scheme is well under way as 300 trees begin to arrive at our very own Laudato Si’ Centre.

This year, our centre is joining forces with JustHelping – a UK charity that collects used Christmas trees from your door and recycles them to raise funds for local charities.

Our centre is being used as a collection point for trees from Manchester, Salford, Stockport, and Trafford areas, and collected trees will be recycled into chipping to be used at the centre.

The chipping is a hugely valuable resource to the centre, helping to support the healthy growth of fruit, herbs, vegetables and more by trying to reduce the competition from grass for soil nutrients, as well as the amount of digging and disturbance of soil.

By using chipping, alongside recycled cardboard, staff and volunteers at the centre can reduce grass grow-back, weed coverage, and weed maintenance, allowing plants to thrive and flourish.

The scheme also has a wider environmental benefits, such as reducing traffic on the roads, reducing fly-tipping of Christmas trees, and reducing the amount of trees going to landfill.

In addition to the environmental aspect of the project, the initiative also has considerable social benefits by raising money for local charities.

In this case, 90% of the funds will be donated to St Ann’s Hospice, with the remaining 10% being distributed to other local charities.

St Anne’s has already confirmed that it has surpassed its target for this year, and with daily running costs of £20,000 and additional heating costs of £300,000 this year alone, this support has never been more needed.

Dr Emma Gardner from the Laudato Si’ Centre said: “This is a fantastic initiative, which we’re so proud to be a part of.

“Our centre is founded on the principles of Laudato Si’ – a call to put care for others and our common home at the heart of all we do, so a project that has both social and environment benefits is always a privilege to be part of.”