Give new life to your real Christmas tree – Drop it off for recycling

Calgary – Don’t let those real Christmas trees go to waste. Now that the holiday season is over, Calgarians are reminded to turn their real Christmas trees into useful mulch through The City’s Christmas Tree Recycling program.

“Calgarians have been doing a great job bringing their Christmas trees to a tree drop-off for recycling,” says Sharon Howland, Leader, Program Management at Waste & Recycling Services. “We have already collected over 7,000 trees so far and expect many more to be dropped off this month. It’s great to see that Calgarians want to keep these trees out of the landfill and help our environment.”

Sixteen temporary tree drop-off locations are open throughout the city until January 31.

• Bowness – By the community recycling depot, 7937 43 Ave. N.W.
• Confederation Park – East parking lot, 905 30 Ave. N.W.
• Prairie Winds Park – South parking lot, 54 Ave. & Castleridge Blvd. N.E
• Huntington Hills Athletic Park – 7920 4 St. at Huntstrom Dr. N.E.
• Bottomlands Park – St. George's Dr. & 7 Ave. N.E.
• Marda Loop Communities Association – 3130 16 St. S.W.
• Parks Compound – 10312 Sacramento Dr. S.W.
• North Glenmore Park – 6615 37 St. S.W.
• Woodbine Athletic Park – 96 Woodfield Dr. S.W.
• Park 96 – 14660 Parkland Blvd. S.E.
• Pop Davies/Ogden Athletic Park – Ogden Rd. & Millican Rd. S.E.
• IKEA – 8000 11 St. S.E. (northwest corner of parking lot behind store)
• Auburn Bay Off-Leash Area – 52 St. & Auburn Bay Dr. S.E.
• Spyhill Landfill* – 69 St. & 112 Ave. N.W.
• East Calgary Landfill* – 17 Ave. and 68 St. S.E.
• Shepard Landfill* – 114 Ave. and 68 St. S.E.

*Landfill hours have recently changed. Check calgary.ca/landfill before visiting a landfill site.

As a cost-saving measure, there will be no door-to-door tree collection this year.

How to prepare your real tree for recycling

• Remove all lights, ornaments, tinsel, string, garland and tree stands.
• Do not wrap, tie or bag your tree.

Approximately 35,000 trees were collected last year. All trees collected will be turned into mulch rather than thrown away in the landfill. The mulch from recycled Christmas trees will be available for free to residents at the East Calgary landfill. Mulch is available while supplies last.

For more information about the Christmas Tree Recycling program, visit calgary.ca/christmastree.

Photos, audio files and b-roll footage are available online.

-30-