EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH - BREC is collecting live Christmas trees at six different parks in the area to recycle.

It's the first time in a few years that BREC has recycled trees. Usually, trees dropped off at BREC parks end up in local landfills.

BREC Communication Director Cheryl Michelet said the organization decided to do things differently this year. 

"You've got this tree that you want to do something with. You don't just have to put it on the curb and send it to a landfill, you can make your parks even more beautiful than they are now," Michelet said.

Once the recycling event ends, the old Christmas trees will be taken and turned into mulch. That mulch will then be placed as the base of similar trees across multiple BREC parks in East Baton Rouge Parish.

"The cool thing about it is, it protects the living trees from too much heat from the sun, from soil erosion," Michelet said.

The tree recycling will run until Jan. 10, 2024. BREC asked recyclers to abide by the following guidelines:

-Remove all tree stands and decorations
-No Flocked trees at all no exceptions only natural
-Please drop in the space designated by signage
-Strict Adherence to the dates allowed for recycling drop off

The following parks will be open for tree collection: 

-Liberty Lagoon Water Park
-Highland Road Community Park - East Bottom Side
-Scotlandville Parkway
-Zachary Community Park
-Plank Road Park
-Flannery Road Park