The City of North Battleford is encouraging residents to recycle their Christmas Trees once the holidays are over.
Trees will be recycled into chips again this year, which will be used as mulch in tree and shrub beds. That will allow the trees and shrubs to retain moisture and will suppress weed growth. It's being encourged as a better alternative than simply throwing Christmas trees into the trash.
A couple of options are offered. Residences with back lanes can place their tree outside the back fence for collection, while residents with front yard collection can place their tree near the street. Those with rollout bins are urged not to place the Christmas trees in the rollout bins. Residents are asked to have their trees ready to be picked up by Jan. 17, the date that chipping will begin.
The other option is to simply drop off the trees after Christmas at the City of North Battleford's Waste Management Facility and at the city's greenhouse on 8th Avenue, during regular business hours.
The city also is urging people to make sure all lights, string, wire, ornaments, fake snow and other items all are removed from the tree before recycling, as those can damage city equipment and can degrade the mulch after it is mixed in.
Battleford residents may drop off trees at a designated site near the recycling centre. Trees left at the curb will not be picked up by town personnel.
