ST. GEORGE — For those who opted for a natural Christmas tree this year, you either bought a tree at a local lot or chopped one down.
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But Christmas is over so now what?
The answer will differ depending on whether you’re in Washington County or Iron County. But in both areas, there are drop-off locations where people can bring their trees for disposal.
In St. George and other areas of Washington County, disposing of a tree can be as simple as leaving it curbside.
“People can leave their tree at the curb on the same day as their trash is picked up after Dec. 27,” a spokesperson for Republic Services, which handles trash collection in Washington County, told St. George News.
But for people in St. George and surrounding areas who want to get rid of trees on their own timetable – or not irk their neighbors by leaving a dead Christmas tree on the curb for too long – the St. George Reuse Center at 575 E. Brigham Road is accepting used Christmas trees and will turn them into mulch and compost that will be used in local parks and other uses.
The city of St. George estimates it saves $100,000 per year by converting green waste into other uses at the center.
Don’t dump the trees in Cedar City
Residents of Cedar City and other places in Iron County shouldn’t be dumping their trees curbside. Eric Witzke, the street and solid waste superintendent, said the trees won’t be picked up.
“Not unless they cut the tree up and are able to get it all in a bin,” Witzke told St. George News. “We would prefer that people use the tree sites. We will not pick up trees left next to the cans or sticking out of the can.”
Until Jan. 17, there will be four sites in Cedar City where residents can drop off their Christmas trees:
Coal Creek Road and Main Street
Wedgewood Lane and Canyon Center Drive
100 East and Center Street
Cedar City Aquatic Center near the baseball fields
What about the fake trees?
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Even though they are often advertised as recyclable, artificial trees are usually anything but recyclable – at least locally.
According to Earth911.com, most artificial trees are made with vinyl, known by the scientific name polyvinyl chloride or PVC. Vinyl is difficult to recycle and it can be hard to find anyone who will recycle it, according to the website.
Artificial trees and their parts put into blue bins in Washington County may still make their way to the Republic Services Southern Nevada Recycling Center in North Las Vegas. But like supermarket bags and other difficult-to-recycle plastics, they will end up in the landfill anyway.
And a worker at the Empire Recycling Services facility in St. George told St. George News they also won’t accept PVC plastics like artificial trees.
That leaves tree owners the choice of either dumping them in the regular garbage or taking advantage of artificial trees’ reuse advantage by putting the tree back in the box and storing it until next year.
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