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Christmas Trees Get New Life

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By CHRISTIAN M. WADE

cwade@tampatrib.com

Published: January 1, 2009

TAMPA - That wilting evergreen that only days ago stood so tall and green in the living room may be running out of life, but there's no reason to throw it out with the trash.

Beginning Monday, the city's solid waste department will collect Christmas trees from city residents, free of charge. It will grind the trees into mulch.
Tampa residents who participate in the yard waste recycling service will have their trees removed on their regularly scheduled waste collection days. Others will have their trees picked up Jan. 8 and 9. City residents also have the option of taking trees to the Manhattan Brush site or the McKay Bay Waste-to-Energy Facility.

To aid in recycling, residents should remove all ornaments and tinsel.

Hillsborough County no longer has a Christmas tree recycling program, but still collects trees at the curb. All tinsel must be removed, and the trunk must be cut into 4-foot sections.

Tree removals begin this week with regularly scheduled yard waste collection days.

Trees can also be dropped off at any of the county's collection sites. Those are at 350 N. Falkenburg Road near Brandon, 8001 W. Linebaugh Ave. in northwest Hillsborough, 16180 W. Lake Drive in Wimauma, and on U.S. 41 just north of Big Bend Road in south Hillsborough.

You must bring identification and proof of residency.

For information, Tampa residents should call (813) 348-1111; residents who live in unincorporated Hillsborough County should call (813) 272-5680.

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