Cayuga Recycles, a program of the Cayuga County Planning Department, in conjunction with the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District and Cornell Cooperative Extension of Cayuga County, is sponsoring the annual “Trade-A-Tree” program in Cayuga County. Bring in your “used” (real) Christmas tree after the holidays, and we will give you a certificate for a tree seedling to be picked up in the spring! Old trees will be chipped into mulch to be used on county projects, rather than taking up space in landfills. A White Spruce seedling will be given out to anyone who redeems their certificate on May 8, 2026, at the Annual Conservation District Spring Tree & Shrub Sale.

Trees must be free of decorations, tinsel, wraps or any other foreign objects. Trees will be accepted at the Natural Resource Center, 7413 County House Road, Auburn, NY during the following hours:

December 26, 2025, from 8 AM – 3:30 PM.
December 29-30, 2025, from 8 AM – 3:30 PM.
December 31, 2025, from 8 AM – 12 PM.
January 2, 2026, from 8 AM – 3:30 PM.
January 5-9, 2026, from 8 AM – 3:30 PM.
January 12-16, 2026, from 8 AM – 3:30 PM.

For more information, please visit our website at https://www.cayugacounty.gov/1820/Trade-a-Tree-Program or call the Cayuga County Soil and Water Conservation District at 315-252-4171 ext. 4, or stop by their office located on County House Road in Sennett. They are available Monday – Friday from 7:30 AM – 4:00 PM.