January 09, 2020

The Giving Trees of Moscow


The Giving Trees of Moscow
Real Russians – babushka scarves and all – recycle. Anton Gerdo | Vechernyaya Moskva

Moscow authorities want you to stop throwing your trees in the trash. Moscovites can bring their yolki (New Year’s trees) to one of the city’s 379 drop-off points. The program is growing quickly: in 2016, the city had just one drop-off point, but last year the program gathered 27,000 trees, some of which were re-gifted to animals in the zoo as snacks and toys. This year, the plans are to branch out and use wood chips made from the trees for a variety of purposes, like agriculture, animal shelters, nature trails, and beautifying the streets. The latter is truly a gift that keeps giving to the citizens of Moscow.

If you live in Moscow, you can find the list of locations here.

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