Meet the composting advocate who helped end the landfilling of Milwaukee Christmas trees

That Milwaukee will no longer landfill its Christmas trees came as welcome news to the person who set the change in motion.

The city this week began Christmas tree pick up after all following a flap at City Hall over their collection and disposal.

But, unlike past years, the trees will not be headed to the garbage heap, where they decay and release harmful gases to the air.

“The trees we collect will not be landfilled. They will be separated from the rest of the garbage. They will be composted,” city Department of Public Works spokesperson Tiffany Shepherd told the Journal Sentinel in an email.

It was just weeks ago that the department announced plans to cease tree collection at the curb under pressure from the state over the practice of landfilling them, only to back off that plan following heavy criticism from Common Council members afraid trees would be strewn across the city instead of taken to drop-off centers.

All of which pleases Compost Crusader founder Melissa Tashjian, whose complaint to the state Department of Natural Resources about the city’s landfilling of Christmas trees prompted the agency in January to issue the city a notice of noncompliance.

“We’re thrilled,” she said. “The whole reason for the complaint was to get the city to acknowledge that they could be doing it differently.”

That notice cited state law regarding yard waste and required that by Feb. 20 the city submit and implement a written plan to the DNR describing the steps the city would take to prevent Christmas trees from being sent to landfills.

The department agreed in February to end Christmas tree curbside collection but did not announce the change until early this month, prompting council backlash.

Tashjian, whose business picks up compostable materials from homes and businesses, said her complaint to the state came from her realization two or three years ago that the city was landfilling trees, back-and-forth with the DNR over the practice’s legality, and, ultimately, frustration over the city landfilling trees that she said were marked for her company to pick up and compost.

Still, she said the goal was not for Compost Crusader to make money off the trees but rather to push for a more sustainable program.

“I’m absolutely thrilled that the City of Milwaukee is picking these trees up,” she said. “I hope in the future we can become more part of their solution because they’re taking on all the work themselves right now, which may not be necessary but, again, I’m glad they’re not getting landfilled. That was our only intention out of this clarification was for us to do better as a community.”

More: Wisconsinites, don’t toss your trees or recycle your lights: How to be conscious of the waste you create this holiday season

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.