Christmas tree PSA: Chip it, don't chuck it

Your Christmas tree probably looks amazing right now, but in the next few days, you'll be ready to take it down.

When you do so, the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO) wants you to remember that there are ways to dispose of your tree in an environmentally friendly way.

Chip it, don’t chuck it.

“You can give your tree another life after the holidays by dropping it off at any one of the convenient Chip It locations,” says a release from the RDCO. “Your tree will then be chipped down and composted into a nutrient-rich soil enhancer called GlenGrow.”

GlenGrow is great for dressing your lawn, landscaping or mixing in your vegetable garden, and you can get it at various locations around the Central Okanagan come springtime.

If you don’t have a way of getting your tree to a drop-off location, or if you’re just feeling a little lazy after that turkey dinner, you can also cut your tree down to size and put the pieces in your yard waste cart.

However, the pruning and branchings will need to be less than a metre long and no more than five centimetres in diameter, and yard waste collection doesn’t resume until March.

If you do plan on dropping your tree off to be chipped, make sure all decorations and tinsel are removed before you recycle it.

The drop-off locations are open for the most part from December 26th until January 31st and are in several locations around the Central Okanagan.

Kelowna:

• Ben Lee Park (parking lot at Houghton Road)
• Behind the Capital News Centre (on the Lequime ring road)
• Glenmore Landfill (2710 John Hindle Drive)
  • Open Monday-Sunday, 7:30 a.m. – 4:45 p.m.
  • Closed Dec. 25-26 and Jan. 1
  • Three tree limit; load must be tarped

West Kelowna and Peachland:

• Westside Residential Waste Disposal and Recycling Centre (2640 Asquith Road)
  • Open Friday-Monday, 7:30 a.m. – 3:50 p.m.
  • Closed Dec. 25 and Jan. 1

Lake Country:

• Jack Seaton Park (1950 Camp Road)

You can find out more information on recycling your tree and exactly when these locations are open by clicking this link.