VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY) — You’ve heard of recycling your Christmas trees after the holiday but what about using them to fight erosion?

A Virginia Beach business collected hundreds of trees in order to protect beaches.

The parking lot at Chicho’s Pizza is overflowing with old Christmas trees.

“We came up with a $7.99 large pizza if you donate a tree. It was kind of an incentive for them to drop it off,” said Rory Schindel, Chicho’s Pizza General Manager.

The trees will be used to restore sand dunes at the Outer Banks, specifically the Kitty Hawk and Nags Head areas. 

The restaurant is teaming up with Skimmunity House and Better Beaches OBX for the project after recent storms washed away sand in the popular vacation spot.

“We’re going to go down there and we’re going to have to dig small trenches and place these trees in those. That’s going to block the trees from moving anywhere and then the wind is going to blow sand and anything else over top the trees and build dunes on top,” Schindel said.

“It’s a constant thing that happens to us. It’s a way to ensure to keep preserving the beach for 20, 50, 100 years from now,” said Victor Enriquez, of Skimmunity House.

In a phone call, the founder of Better Beaches OBX said the initiative started several years ago by planting grass and later transitioned to Christmas trees. 

Since January 1, Chicho’s and Skimmunity House have collected more than 350 trees.

“I started this thinking that I was going to need about two parking spots and I even fenced it off. Within the first day, we expanded the fence and now the fence is taken over,” Schindel said.

“It’s awesome. It’s great to see the coastal community come together to benefit the beach,” Enriquez said.

The groups hope the trees will not only help with erosion but that they might also save city leaders’ time between sand replenishment projects in the future.

“I just think it’s awesome. I can’t wait to see what happens next year,” Schindel said.

The deadline to donate trees has passed but if you’re interested in helping deliver the trees to the Outer Banks, volunteers are needed Saturday, January 19 at 8 a.m. You can meet at the Chicho’s Pizza Oceanfront location.