In all honesty I have to make an addendum to my story. Our county does have one very successful recycling effort that I do participate in: they collect and recycle yard waste, including yard clippings, leaves, Christmas trees, and cut-up trimmings. We are encouraged to buy paper recycling bags which are picked up once a week. The bags and their contents are made into the most luscious compost, which people buy as "leaf mold" (not a great name; marketing department should work on that one a little). The trees and trimmings are made into mulch, which the county gives away free. This is much better than paying for decorative mulch.
I like that idea. I think our area does something similar with the old Christmas trees.