Christmas Trees Can Be Recycled
By Serena Lei, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash., The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.
Dec. 31–Before lugging your Christmas tree out for recycling, please take off the ornaments.
It may seem obvious, but volunteers and organizations that haul away and recycle Christmas trees still see well-decorated trees in tree stands lying on the sidewalk.
Stands, stars and all the tinsel must be removed before the tree can be chipped up for mulch.
Once that’s done, here are a few options for getting rid of your bare tree.
The Boy Scouts will be picking up trees for recycling on Jan. 7 in Bellingham, Blaine, Ferndale and Lynden. Just leave your tree on the curb by 8 a.m.
Residents in Birch Bay and North Bellingham can request a pick-up by calling Phil McAfee, who coordinates the collection, at 733-1513.
The service is free, but a donation is requested.
A couple hundred Boy Scouts and volunteers participate in the collection every year, and the Bellingham Parks & Recreation Department will use the recycled trees for mulch in city parks.
The youth group at First Baptist Church in Bellingham is also picking up trees for a donation on Jan. 7. The church group is asking people to call them at 734-4500 to arrange a pick-up rather than leaving the tree on the curbside.
Sanitary Service Co. customers can leave trees out for pick-up next to a yard waste toter. If the tree is less than 7 feet tall and the toter half full or less, the tree will not cost extra. If the toter is full, the tree pick-up will cost an extra $2.
The yard waste recycling program, now expanded to include food scraps, is available in Bellingham, Ferndale, Birch Bay and parts of unincorporated Whatcom County.
City Organics customers can set their trees out on the curb for about $4 a tree, so long as the tree is not more than 6 feet tall.
For more information, contact SSC at 734-3490 or City Organics at 671-YARD.
People can also take their trees to recycling centers.
Recycling & Disposal Services Inc. in Ferndale charges a $5 minimum for yard waste, which includes the average tree. The facility at 4916 La Bounty Drive is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily. Call 384-8011 for more information.
Nooksack Valley Disposal & Recycling Inc. will take trees for $1 at its transfer station at 250 Birch Bay-Lynden Road. The station is open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon. Call 354-3400.
County Construction Recyclers, at 1960 E. Hemmi Road, will take Christmas trees for $3 to $6, depending on the size of the tree. Open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays. Call 398-8098.
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Copyright (c) 2005, The Bellingham Herald, Bellingham, Wash.
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