With the holiday season drawing to a close, it’s time for many of us to begin to dismantle the tinsel, unwind the Christmas lights and dispose of those pesky trees. In an environmentally friendly way, of course.
For the fifth year running, Rocky View County is offering a Christmas tree exchange program, where natural trees are left at a transfer site to be turned into mulch and composted. In turn, participating residents will receive a coupon for a native tree seedling to be planted in the spring.
To receive a coupon, residents may bring their natural trees to County transfer sites in Bragg Creek, Langdon and Irricana. The Bragg Creek and Langdon sites will be open until Jan.19, while the Irricana site is open year round.
In Cochrane, the town’s waste and recycling manager, Sharon Howland, is encouraging residents to drop their trees off at the Cochrane Eco Centre.
“Trees will get chipped, rather than being put in landfills,” she said. “By chipping the trees, we’re reducing our waste. In the end, the trees take up more space in our landfills.”
Christmas trees can be dropped off at the Cochrane Eco Centre year-round during the regular hours.
Although the Cochrane location is not providing coupons in exchange for the trees, residents can still receive the promotion by contacting Rocky View County. The same goes for trees dropped off at the Crossfield transfer site, Airdrie Recycle Depot, Bow Point Nursery and Branched Out Nursery.
The seedling coupons are provided by Bow Point Nursery and Branched Out Nursery, and will be available until Jan. 19.
