‘Tis the season to deck the halls, string the lights, and trim the tree with baubles and strings. But what do you do with your fresh Christmas tree now that Christmas Day has come and gone?
Residents of the City of Vernon, District of Coldstream, and B.X. are encouraged to recycle their fresh trees, free of charge, through the Christmas tree disposal program until January 18, 2021. Trees can be dropped off at:
St. John’s Ambulance lot (vacant lot at the Northeast corner of 47th Ave and 20th St)
To help ensure your tree is chipped and recycled properly, please remember:
- Remove lights, decorations, and tree stands beforehand;
- Other yard waste, commercial trees, artificial trees, trees with flocking/tinsel/spray foam, or general garbage or wastes will not be accepted at the drop-off site; and
- Christmas trees can also be taken to the Greater Vernon Diversion & Disposal facility free of charge until the end of January 2021.
Once collected, trees are chipped and used to create composting material called RDNO-Gro.
Christmas trees will not be picked up with your residential waste and will not be accepted in the community food compost collection bins.
Residents should transport all other yard waste directly to the Diversion & Disposal facility. The community food compost collection bins only accept household food scraps (including vegetable, fruit, meat, and bone scraps), and do not accept commercial materials, any kind of metal, plastic, glass, Styrofoam, or pet waste.
Alternatively, you may also leave your Christmas tree in your backyard garden as a wildlife habitat. Leaving the tree can provide habitat for small critters and birds during winter months, especially on cold nights and during winter storms. By spring, the tree will lose most of its needles and can be cut into smaller pieces to be included with yard waste or allowed to compost. This could help provide valuable organic materials for your garden.
For additional details and more information, please visit the City’s website, www.vernon.ca, or call 250-549-6757.