The combined efforts of residents and Lewisham Council have produced a novel Valentine’s present for the borough – a giant heart made of recycled Christmas trees.
The heart, which consists of 500 out of a record-breaking 3,500 trees left for recycling this year, was laid out earlier this week by park workers in Mountsfield Park.
The heart shape was chosen not only because of the proximity to Valentine’s Day but because Lewisham Council’s recycling and environmental awareness campaign follows the theme of ‘Love Lewisham’.
The campaign itself celebrates the second anniversary of its launch on Valentine’s Day.
Councillor Susan Wise, Cabinet Member for Customer Services, said: “Lewisham Council wanted to say a huge thank you to residents for recycling so many trees.
"We thought a giant heart located in the centre of the borough would be an appropriate way of doing that. The record number of trees this year represents a real increase in residents’ commitment to recycling and reflects an increased awareness and concern for the local environment.”
This year, over 3,500 trees were deposited at collection points throughout the Borough. It represents a 275% increase on the 1,250 trees recycled last year.
Due to the recent snow and wet weather, the trees have now had to be removed and are being chipped for use in a number of local environmental projects, including:
- being laid as a weed suppressant on shrub beds in Mountsfield Park
- to create woodland pathways in some of the borough’s parks (Sydenham Wells Park, Brookmill Park and Forster Memorial Park)
Residents who still have Christmas trees to recycle can deposit their tree at any of the following sites until the end of February:
- Sydenham Wells Park
- Forster Memorial Park
- Deptford Park
- Manor House Gardens