MORPETH residents are being urged to help a charity turn festive waste into woodland.
A specially-marked Christmas card recycling bin will be placed in the town’s Marks and Spencer branch until the end of the month and the retailer will plant one tree with the Woodland Trust for every 1,000 cards brought into its stores.
The trust planted more than 8,000 trees last year, with the help of local communities, schoolchildren, farmers, universities and local councils, after more than eight million cards were collected.
The UK is one of the least wooded countries in Europe, with just 13 per cent woodland cover compared to the European average of 44 per cent.
Joanne Mathieson, from the Woodland Trust, said: “We are delighted that M&S is continuing to run its highly successful Christmas Card Recycling Scheme this year.
“If we each drop off just seven cards at our local M&S shop in January, the Woodland Trust will be able to plant an extra 10,000 trees in 2013. By recycling festive cards, Morpeth residents are not only helping to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill, they are also helping us to continue our vital work in creating new woodland and preserving the habitats of thousands of species.”