When you’re done making merry, your Christmas tree can make mulch
One way to end the season of giving on a sparkling note is to recycle that fragrant fresh Christmas tree as a benefit to the environment.
Wake, Johnston and Durham counties, along with some local municipalities, collect or accept used trees from right after Christmas until after the new year.
Raleigh residents can leave their bare Christmas trees (no decorations, no lights, no tinsel, no tree stands) at the curb and crews will pick them up on your regular recycling day. Trees will be turned into mulch for local parks. Real trees only; artificial trees cannot be recycled. Information about recycling other holiday detritus is available on the city’s website.
Wake County residents can drop off their trees to be used in the Happy Trails Christmas Tree Recycling program, which accepts trees for one month, from Dec. 26 to Jan. 26. You can take old tannenbaum to any of eight drop-off locations: four county convenience centers and four county parks. The trees need to be clear of all ornaments, tinsel and twinkling lights.
Wake County turns the naked trees into mulch, which is then spread on park trails.
County officials also encourage recycling of many items you may have replaced with ones this year as part of your holiday dining or gift-giving. A list of recyclable items is offered at http://www.wakegov.com/recycling/recycle/Pages/residentrecycling.aspx, and it includes dozens of discards, from rinsed-out cranberry sauce can to strings of burned-out Christmas lights. Different items are accepted at recycling at different locations, so be sure to check the county’s list.
If you live in Durham and waited patiently for Christmas, you might want to use the county’s curbside collection option by hauling your stripped-clean, unbagged tree to the street where weekly trash collection crews will make a note of its presence. It will then be scheduled for pickup on the next Saturday, with pickups planned on Jan. 11, Jan. 25, and Feb. 1, according to the county’s website. Trees taller than 6 feet must be cut in half.
Durham yard waste customers who are in more of a hurry to see Christmas scurry can, for the first time, drop off their trees at no charge at any of six county parks between 7 a.m. and noon on Jan. 4, Jan. 11, Jan. 18, and Jan. 25. The parks are listed on the county’s website. Solid Waste crews also will accept trees at Durham County Stadium from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Jan. 18 during the annual E-Waste Recycling and Paper Shredding event.
Those who aren’t yard waste customers still can schedule a free Christmas-tree pickup by contacting Durham One Call at 919-560-1200, submitting an online service request or using the Durham One Call smartphone app. Pickup requests must be received by 5 p.m. Jan. 31, and will be scheduled for the next available Saturday. Free tree dropoffs may also be made at the City’s Waste Disposal and Recycling Center at 2115 E. Club Blvd. from Jan. 3 through Feb. 1. The center is open Monday through Friday, 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. to noon.
In Durham County, residents with valid solid waste car decals can drop off Christmas trees at the Parkwood, Redwood and Bahama convenience centers. Addresses for each site are listed on the county’s website.
In Chapel Hill, Christmas trees are picked up on the regular yard waste collection schedule. All decorations and tinsel should be removed before placing trees at the curb. Residents of apartment complexes should place trees in designated areas alongside the Dumpsters but not inside them.
Johnston County residents with a valid solid waste decal can drop their Christmas trees at the landfill at no charge, at 680 County Home Road in Smithfield, or to any of a dozen convenience sites around the county, according to the county’s website. Residents without the decal can take their trees to the landfill for a weight-based fee, usually about $5. The county grinds the trees into mulch.
This story was originally published December 25, 2019 at 4:33 PM with the headline "When you’re done making merry, your Christmas tree can make mulch."
