illuminateLA

My favorite part of the Christmas celebration is the tree. I really don’t care for the consumerism aspect of this Holiday season but I love the look and the smell of the pine tree.

I love the decorations of different cultures. Each family has their own history of ornaments. Stores compete for best decorations. Some trees have real fruits hanging of their branches and some have fake snow on them.

Each tree is different and each tree has it’s own history but to me they all smell the same. The pine scent that I recognize here in Los Angeles during the Holiday season is the same smell that our tree had in Hungary and Germany when I was a kid.

And to me the saddest part after Christmas is when the tree has to go. And for a week or two I have to look at those sad dead trees on the street curbs of Los Angeles. Some still decorated, some only have a few strands of tinsel hanging from their branches, and I even saw one with a “for sale” sign on it.

This year I hope I won’t have to see that sad abandoned tree on the sidewalk. The City of Los Angeles set up some tree-cycling sites, where you can drop off your tree and pick up some free green give-a-ways on the weekend of January 5th and 6th. And while you’re at it, recycle your gift wrappings and packaging materials at the same location.

So, load up your bike trailer and your car with your Christmas tree, packaging and gift wrappings and lets keep our sidewalks clean!

To find a location in your neighborhood click here.