Northern Virginia Electric Cooperative will accept evergreen Christmas trees, wreaths, and garland at its technical center at 5399 Wellington Branch Road, Gainesville, near I-66 from Dec. 28 through Jan. 10.
Customers may leave greenery in the front parking lot in the area designated by orange safety cones. Greens must be free of all decorations, metal ornament hooks, and light strings.
On Jan. 18, 2015, a 15-foot Fraser fir Christmas tree that had been cut 65 days earlier caught on fire in a Maryland home. Six family members died. According to the National Fire Protection Association, home fires started by Christmas trees are three times more deadly than most home fires because dry trees go up in flames in seconds.
NOVEC tree crews will chop greens into wood chips. They will deliver wood-chip mulch to interested Co-op members at no charge when right-of-way crews are working in nearby neighborhoods. Members interested in free wood-chip mulch should complete the request form at www.novec.com/mulch.
For more information about recycling holiday greens or obtaining mulch, contact NOVEC's right-of-way department at 703-335-0500 or 1-888-335-0500, extension 1633 or 1661.
NOVEC, headquartered in Manassas, is a not-for-profit electric utility corporation that supplies and distributes electricity and energy-related services to more than 160,000 metered customers in Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William, Stafford, and Clarke counties, the City of Manassas Park, and Clifton.