Cumberland Solid Waste Use Old Cans To Make Christmas Tree

Showcasing the many ways to recycle, Cumberland County Solid Waste has recycled old soda cans to create a Christmas tree.

The tree was made as part of a Christmas tree contest held by a Crossville bank. Solid Waste Director Conrad Welch was the brains behind the festive tree made of mostly green and red cans. He said he was surprised by how well the tree came together.

“We kind of thought, I think we got a good one, because we didn’t know exactly what it would look like until we literally put it together the day before because we had all the cans done, but we thought I think this will be a good,” Welch said. “You know, it looked better than we thought it was going to look.”

Welch said the contest may have been the motivation for the project, but recycling is key to what the sanitation department does. He said he hopes everyone thinks about how they can recycle their trash in unique ways when they see the tree.

“We’re trying to promote for people to recycle their cans, their cardboard, their paper, their one and two plastics,” Welch said. “We’ve done trees out of those other elements. So, this is the first time we’ve done one out of aluminum. Just to give people an idea that recycling is important.”

If you want to see the tree, it is on display at First National Bank of Tennessee in Crossville. Trees are on display on both floors of the bank. To vote for the Cumberland County Sanitation Departments aluminum can tree, fill out a ballot form.

“Just think about the things you get for Christmas,” Welch said. “If you’re replacing an item, just be sure if it can be reused, let’s try to at least reuse it once before we throw things away.”