Members of Plumsted Youth for Nature and the Environment unload discarded Christmas trees at Bradley Beach, Monmouth County, where they will be used to reconstruct dunes and counteract beach erosion. More than 150 evergreen trees that decorated homes in Plumsted and surrounding towns over the holidays were repurposed for the reconstruction of dunes at the Shore, thanks to a group of environmentally conscious teens.
The Plumsted Youth for Nature and the Environment (PYNE) collected 156 discarded fir and pine trees that normally would have been thrown into the trash.
“This year’s Christmas tree collection went off without a hitch,” PYNE President Mitchell Mann said of the initiative, now in its third year.
On Jan. 11, the group delivered the trees to Bradley Beach, Monmouth County, to assist the ongoing dune-restoration efforts, Mann said.
The collection project, which began on Dec. 27 and ended on Jan. 11, has become a yearly effort for PYNE.
For many towns along the Shore, the high mounds of sand that make up the dunes help stave off beach erosion and prevent flooding.
According to PYNE members, the discarded trees assist in the rebuilding of dunes because the branches bind the sand together. In addition to providing structural support, the trees feed dune grasses as they decompose.
Because the trees decompose, they need to be replaced every year.
“Beach erosion is an ongoing battle. It is never really done,” Mann said. “We are hoping to use the trees in order to slow down that process.”
The weeks-long collection saw a slight decrease in the number of trees collected when compared to last year’s total of more than 170 trees. However, Mann said he was proud of the work he and his fellow PYNE members put into the drive.
Mann also thanked the Dancer family of Plumsted, who helped transport the trees to their final destination.