LOS ANGELES (CNS) - OK, Christmas is over. So what do you do with that Christmas tree?
The Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation and Environment's Christmas Tree Recycling Program is ready to help.
The bureau provides “environmentally friendly” options for recycling holiday trees, and it receives between 90,000 to 100,000 trees annually. The trees are turned into mulch rather than dumped into a landfill, and the compost is made available to residents and city operations.
The tree recycling options are:
-- Green Bins. Residents must remove decorations and the stand, cut the tree into pieces if needed and place the materials in a green yard trimming bin for weekly collection.
-- Curbside. Residents who are unable to cut and place in their green bin may leave their tree at the curb for weekly collection.
-- Drop-off locations, which will be open at 13 Los Angeles Fire Department stations and six Recreation and Parks sites from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 5, and the Lopez Canyon Environmental Education Center or Harbor Sanitation District Yard on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
A complete list of locations with detailed drop-off dates and times can be found at www.lacitysan.org or by calling the LASAN Customer Care Center, 800-773-2489.
Residents of multifamily buildings can also place their Christmas trees curbside on collection day.
In addition to Christmas trees, holiday wrapping paper, cartons, cardboard, Styrofoam and other expanded polystyrene products, plastics and gift boxes are also recyclable and should be placed in the blue bin, according to sanitation officials.
It is illegal to place household hazardous waste, such as electronics and batteries, into the collection bins. Those items can be dropped off at one of seven S.A.F.E. Centers for safe disposal and recycling, which can be found on the LASAN website.
The tree recycling program lasts until about mid-January, according to the LASAN website.