Don’t trash it: Christmas trees reused to save Point Pleasant shoreline

🎄 Real Christmas trees are being collected to fight erosion and restore marshland at Slade Dale Sanctuary

🐟 The project supports fish, birds and water quality along the Jersey Shore

📍 Trees can be dropped off at a church in Point Pleasant

POINT PLEASANT — Don’t toss your Christmas tree. Instead, consider donating it to the American Littoral Society.

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For the third consecutive year, the organization is collecting real Christmas trees for the Slade Dale Sanctuary Breakwater Living Shoreline Project in Point Pleasant.

Fighting erosion at Slade Dale Sanctuary in Point Pleasant

Slade Dale is one of only four areas of open space left in Point Pleasant, said American Littoral Society’s Habitat Restoration Manager, Zack Royle.

Over the last 100 years or so, Slade Dale Sanctuary has experienced a lot of erosion, which has resulted in a significant amount of marsh loss, Royle said.

In 2019, the organization conceived an idea to halt further erosion and potentially restore some of the lost marshland.

How donated Christmas trees help restore marshland

“So we installed what we called these branchbox breakwaters. They are essentially a series of wooden pilings that we drove into the sediment, and then between those pilings, we stuffed woody debris, and in this case, we put Christmas trees,” Royle said.

The trees act like barriers to slow down the current breakup wave energy that otherwise would slowly eat away at the shoreline. As water flows through them and back out, all those branches on the Christmas trees help to trap sediment. So, over time, we can slowly build back the marsh that has been lost, he explained.

Slade Dale, being one of the few open spaces left in Point Pleasant, is crucial because it provides habitat for numerous fish and bird species.

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Coastal habitat provides a slew of services, too.

Royle said it cleans the water and cleans the air. “It also serves as a habitat for a whole host of organisms. So, if you’re concerned about fishing or if you’re a birder, these habitats like at Slade Dale and other areas in Point Pleasant and across the state, help support fisheries, and they help support birds,” Royle said.

Where to donate your Christmas tree in Point Pleasant

Anyone who wants to help can drop a Christmas tree off at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, located at 708 Route 88 in Point Pleasant, in the field behind the parking lot.

Royle said the location will be marked and easy to see, and the trees can be dropped off any time of time.

If you’re a Point Pleasant resident, you don’t have to do anything. Simply leave the tree on the curb. The normal tree pickup by the municipality will take the tree to the church for you.

Royle does ask one thing: Remove all decorations from the tree. That includes ornaments, lights, and tinsel. Every year, they get a few fully decorated trees, but only natural trees may be donated.

Hundreds of trees collected each year — and volunteers needed

The more trees collected, the better, Royle said.

“Each year, we tend to collect between 300 and 500 trees. That seems to be the standard we like to have each year which helps us replenish any trees that are lost or break down over time. In total, since we’ve been doing this, we’ve probably collected over 3,000 trees,” Royle said.

This is a great opportunity for someone to recycle their Christmas tree. It goes to a great cause, he said.

Also, if anyone is interested in coming out and helping the American Littoral Society place those trees into the breakwaters, there will be a Volunteer Day, usually around Earth Day in April.

All the information is on the website. It’s a great day to get out and see how your Christmas tree plays a role in helping to restore coastal habitats and marsh loss at the Jersey Shore.

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