Holiday Garbage and Recycling Tips

Happy holidays!

Please help us this holiday season by checking our list for acceptable holiday blue box items.

Things accepted in your Blue Box Recycling. . .

• Greeting cards
• Envelopes
• Paper gift bags (remove rope/ribbon handles)
• Wrapping paper (if 100% paper)
• Tissue paper (if 100% paper)
• Flattened cardboard 

Other recyclable items. . .

• Natural Christmas decorations such as twigs, greenery, and branches
• Household batteries

Items considered garbage. . .

• Christmas lights
• Gift cards
• Christmas ornaments
• Ribbons and bows
• Rope handles
• Foil-type gift bags, cards and anything with glitter are all detrimental to the recycling process
• Artificial garland

Please consider. . .

• Reusing items like gift bags
• Donating items in good condition
• Using 100% paper wrap and gift bags

Recycling your Christmas tree. . .

Live Trees

Live Christmas trees are accepted at any of the Waste Transfer Sites during operating hours. Make sure to remove all lights, tinsel, ornaments, stands and decorations off of the tree.

Natural Wildlife Habitat

Another option is repurposing your live tree as a natural wildlife habitat. It can be set up in a corner of your yard and used as bird feeder where the branches provide protection and warmth and support various offerings of natural foods for birds. If you have a larger property, you can lay it on its side outdoors where it will provide cover for small animals during the cold winter months and slowly break down over time.

Compost It

Composting is another sustainable choice. The branches from your tree make a good base for a compost pile. If you take your tree to a chipper, you can use the resulting mulch in your compost heap.

Can I Burn It?

While repurposing a Christmas tree for firewood or kindling is common, it should not be used in an indoor fireplace or woodstove. Sap from the tree can stick to the inside of your chimney and pose a chimney fire risk. Instead, use it in an outdoor fire pit.

Artificial Trees

If your artificial tree is in good condition, consider donating it.
If your artificial tree contains more than 50% metal it can be recycled as scrap metal, otherwise it is a bulky item and will have a waste disposal fee.