Tuesday, January 30, 2018

"The fir mash, an ecological tool" (what Parisians do with their Christmas trees)

I noticed this sign in several places around Paris. Thanks to the Google translate app I was able to decode "de sapins" to mean fir trees...aka Christmas trees...

After visiting Sacré-Coeur, strolling along a cobblestone street, the smell of Christmas was thick in the air. It wasn't difficult to locate the source...

The above photo is of the pathway through Jardin Frederic Dard, one of many small gardens tucked in neighborhoods all over Paris.

So fresh! I assumed this must be part of the recycling encouraged by the signs I'd seen earlier.

The next day I spotted this "tree corral" in another part of the city, outside what looked to be a large apartment building.

Seeing so many trees finally pushed me to do a little internet research when I was back in our hotel room: "This recycling operation aims to promote green waste, the fir trees being transformed into crushed stone, subsequently used as mulching on the garden beds, and especially to encourage Parisians not to put their fir trees on public roads (or in the mountains). The abandonment of a tree is punishable by a fine of 150 €." (source, translated by Google)

One hundred and fifty Euro!? Ouch. Still I spotted many an abandoned tree...

(no, I don't think the sharply dressed fellow was responsible for this tree, just a coincidence he was passing by)

From another site, also translated courtesy of Google: "The choice of the tree, the decorations to adorn it, the gifts we happily open at our feet ... the Christmas tree is at the party in our homes in December. But the day after Christmas, here it is unvarnished and "plucked" abandoned on the sidewalks. Eh yes! After shining a thousand lights, our firs still too often end their lives on public roads. Yet, a second life is possible for our fir trees. The fir mash, an ecological tool. The fir trees will be ground on the spot. No transport, it is also less pollution! The ground material obtained will be used by gardeners of the city as mulching, to protect the grounds and plantations of the gardens from the evaporation of water or cold. As fir mullion is particularly acidic, it is not suitable for use in compost; on the other hand, its anti-germinative properties are perfect for limiting the proliferation of wild grasses in an ecological way. It acts as a natural weed killer."

"After shining a thousand lights, our firs still too often end their lives on public roads." What poetry! Although really "shining a thousand lights?" Aren't they taking this "city of light" thing a little too far?

Later we happened upon a tree collection point where shredding was underway.

It's hard to make out, but there was a pile of trees and a guy wearing ear-protection feeding the trees into the shredder. You can see the stream of "green" being spit out by the shredder...

Nearby was this freshly "fir mash" mulched bed.

Don't worry, I'll be sharing pretty Paris pictures soon. I just had to share this interesting bit of ecological Paris that captured my attention!

Weather Diary, Jan 29: Hi 53, Low 46/ Precip .32"

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

27 comments:

  1. I don't mind the lack of pretty pictures. It's interesting to see the rabbit holes a gardener's mind goes down while on vacation. I do this kind of thing too.

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    1. I love your words "interesting to see the rabbit holes a gardener's mind goes down while on vacation"...thanks for understanding Alison!

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  2. It is good to see other locations around the globe putting an effort towards recycling. It often takes a while for new programs such as this to take root, so to speak, and eventually more people would get on board.

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    1. There were statistics on one of those websites about how the program has grown each year. It seems to be catching on!

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  3. They still dare to observe Christmas? WOW!

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  4. That fragrance must have been heavenly. Cool program.

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  5. I wonder if any big cities in the States do this? I just saw on tv how they collect these trees in New Orleans (?). They then put them along the coast line to help build up land that is washing away the coast lines. An amazing easy way to recycle and it is all helpful.

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    1. I remember reading something like that too. Here groups do collect them, but not with such immediately visible results.

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  6. The Google translations cracked me up. It's good to know what no machine will replace human translation professionals like me anytime soon.

    "Broyat," by the way, doesn't mean "crushed stones" (what a funny idea that is!). It simply means wood chips or mulch. (For French speakers, the definition of "broyat" is "Produit obtenu par la réduction en très petits morceaux d'une masse solide.")

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    1. Thanks for the translation of the translation! I figured "crushed stones" wasn't correct, but it made me laugh! IN fact the whole translation was pretty entertaining. Yes, I think your job is very secure.

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  7. Our trees and prunings are collected here but I am not really sure what happens with the evergreen trees. Our leaves are picked up and shredded and they used to put them at the botanic garden to decompose until spring when they were sold as mulch. Had to stop this sale because of jumping worms. Many of us pick up abandoned Xmas trees and cut off the branches to use as winter mulch, esp. in a winter like this with little or no snow cover.

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    1. The city of Portland picks up green waste at the curb weekly, and yes I believe they turn it all into mulch which some of us then buy back from them. I believe they even pick up Christmas trees too, although it's been so long since I had a standard Christmas tree that I'm not sure...

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  8. The scent must be wonderful. The new comment option seems to be working and I appreciate not having to go through the whole "I am not a robot" routine.

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    1. Yikes, I don't remember ever having the robot option on my blog, since I approve all comments before they post. Oh Blogger what are you doing to us!?

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  9. This is brilliant - a useful ending to this post-Christmas dilemma. I imagine this could be adopted in cities throughout the world.

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  10. I found this more interesting than the typical Paris stuff.

    I chopped my tree up this year, too. It does indeed make a beautiful mulch.

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    1. I am pretty sure my posts will disappoint those tuning in for the typical Paris stuff. Besides our outing to the Eiffel Tower (where we, gasp, didn't even bother to go up!) we didn't do much of the usual tourist things. I didn't even step foot inside the Louvre.

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  11. I'm glad Gerhard was on point to clarify what Google Translate couldn't. Some of the tool's translations can be very amusing, though.

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    1. Indeed, I actually enjoy the messed up translation as long as it gets the general point across.

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  12. Love this! If only every major city that has Christmas trees would do the same. Imagine!

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    1. I was shocked that just abandoning them along the road was seen as an option.

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  13. john in cranstonJanuary 31, 2018

    I thought that City of Light was a reference to the Age of Enlightenment... No matter, the notion of chipped xmas trees being turned into crushed stone makes me very happy.

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