Christmas compost

Give your Christmas tree new life by composting it

This article was published on 12.23.10

You love your pretty, fragrant Christmas tree, but what are you going to do with it when it starts to dry up and drop its needles all over the floor?

Give it a new life by composting it!

North Valley Waste Management’s municipal curbside program (893-4777) will pick up customers’ unadorned trees and turn them into compost, if they are cut into pieces and placed into the green-waste bin. Similarly, Recology Butte Colusa Counties is offering its annual Christmas-tree curbside recycling program for Butte County residents who already pay for yard-waste collection. Strip trees of all ornaments, lights and other decorations, cut into three-foot sections and place on the curb next to bin. Pickup is ongoing. For more information, visit www.recologybuttecolusa.com.

Other options: Drive your old tree out to the city of Chico Compost Facility (4441 Cohasset Road, 624-3529) and drop it off for free. Or if you live in Paradise, don’t waste gas driving down the hill—drop your tree off at Mountain View Christmas Tree Farm (1986 Mountain View Dr., Paradise, 872-0165). No flocked trees, and not for commercial disposal of large numbers of trees. Trees will be chipped and used as soil amendment for the farm.