Christmas Compost : Holiday Trees Have Mulch to Offer in Curbside Recycling Effort
After the holiday season has come and gone, waste officials from around Ventura County hope that residents will take one last look at their Christmas trees and envision just one thing--mulch.
“A Christmas tree dumped into the landfill is lost forever in the tomb, so to speak, and it doesn’t give back to the Earth,” said Toni Moran, a county waste management analyst. “On the other hand, a tree that’s recycled can be used as mulch or composted and given back to the Earth.”
This year marks the county’s fourth annual Christmas Tree Recycling Program, coordinated by the Ventura Countywide Recycling Consortium and the county’s Solid Waste Management Department with the help of local sponsors and trash haulers.
“Last year, we recycled 690 tons of material countywide, about 69,000 trees,” said Lorraine Timmons, a county resource recovery analyst. “That’s a fair number of trees, and they’re kind of big and bulky. They take up a lot of landfill space.”
The number of recycled trees represents more than 71% of the estimated 97,000 purchased in the county, officials said.
Timmons said the tree recycling effort not only reduces landfill deposits but teaches people about the value of green waste and the positive effects of back-yard composting.
“We look at this as a way to promote recycling in general and remind people that organic matter is definitely not a waste,” she said. “The mulch can be used around acid-loving plants like roses, as an ingredient in a compost pile or as pathway liner.”
*
The number of recycled trees in the county has risen each year, Timmons said, even as a weak economy has caused sales to stagnate.
Because home pickup is available in so many areas this year, Timmons said, the prospects are good for surpassing last year’s results.
“We’ve made the program very, very easy,” she said. “We’re offering curbside pickup in most areas, so they just have to put their tree out on the curb and prepare it properly.”
Getting a tree ready for recycling is a fairly simple matter, Timmons said. All nails or metal items, decorations and tinsel must be removed. Flocked, painted or fireproofed trees cannot be accepted because of the chemicals used in these processes.
After the trees are picked up or dropped off, waste haulers bring them to either the Worm Concern in Simi Valley or California Wood Recycling in Ventura, where they are chipped and shredded into mulch and offered free to the public Jan. 10 through 30.
The limit on free mulch is one trash bag per family. Residents are asked to bring their own containers.
“The piles of trees that we get is almost scary,” said Richard Morhar, co-owner of the Worm Concern. “Everybody is really favorable and happy to see that somebody is doing something about the trees. The mulch goes over real big.”
The mulch not given away is used in a variety of ways, including as a soil amendment, a mix for planting or to feed the worms and produce worm castings, which Morhar called “nature’s complete organic fertilizer.”
Moran said the tree recycling program is particularly helpful around the holidays when the volume of trash dumped at landfills is at its highest for the year.
“Basically, the Christmas tree recycling program helps divert material from the landfill in the month that has the highest level of waste disposal,” she said. “Beyond that, the program helps educate the public that green materials can be recycled. You start recycling your tree and thinking, ‘Oh, what else can I recycle?’ ”
Where to Recycle Christmas Trees
Before recycling Christmas trees, carefully remove all ornaments, nails, tinsel, metal support rods and tree stands. Flocked or fireproofed trees cannot be accepted for recycling. Place trees at the curb by 7 a.m. on the designated pickup days, even though collection may take several days. For information, call the 24-hour Recycling Hot Line at 654-3935.
* Bell Canyon: Curbside collection Jan. 4.
* Camarillo: Curbside collection Jan. 4.
* Camarillo Heights: Curbside collection Monday.
* Channel Islands Beach: Curbside collection Monday to Jan. 14. Drop off at 353 Santa Monica Drive through Jan. 21.
* El Rio/Strickland/Nyeland Acres: Curbside collection Monday.
* Fillmore: Curbside collection Jan. 7. Drop off at Mountain View and Main streets through Jan. 9.
* Lynn Ranch: Curbside collection Monday to Jan. 7.
* Moorpark: Curbside collection Monday to Jan. 14. Drop off through Jan. 14 at Moorpark Community Garden, 13950 Peach Hill Road, or Campus Canyon School, 15300 Monroe Ave.
* Point Mugu Naval Base: Curbside collection Monday and Jan. 4, 7 and 8.
* Oak Park: Drop off at Oak Park High School, 899 N. Kanan Road, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jan. 8 and 9 or Agoura High School, 28545 W. Driver Ave., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday to Jan. 17.
* Ojai Valley: Curbside collection for E. J. Harrison & Sons customers Monday. Curbside collection by Ojai Rubbish/Rubbish Control customers Jan. 8. Drop off at Ojai Valley Recycling Center, Old Baldwin Road off California 150, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays through Jan. 7.
* Oxnard: Curbside collection through Jan. 7.
* Piru: Curbside collection Jan. 7.
* Port Hueneme: Curbside collection through Jan. 7.
* Rincon: Curbside collection Monday.
* Santa Paula: Curbside collection through Jan. 7. Curbside collection for Santa Clara Valley Disposal customers Jan. 7.
* Santa Rosa Valley: Curbside collection for Rubbish Control customers through Jan. 7 on regular collection days. Curbside collection for E. J. Harrison & Sons customers Jan. 4.
* Simi Valley: Curbside collection Monday to Jan. 14. Drop off at the Worm Concern, 1450 Tierra Rejada Road, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays through Jan. 14.
* Somis: Curbside collection Monday.
* Thousand Oaks: Curbside collection Monday to Jan. 7 on regular collection days. Drop off 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Jan. 7 at California Lutheran University, 60 W. Olsen Road; Home Depot, 500 N. Ventu Park Drive, or Park and Ride lot, Rancho Road and the Ventura Freeway.
* Ventura: Curbside collection Jan. 5. Drop off at Harry Lyon Park, Cameron Street and De Anza Drive, or California Wood Recycling, 3450-A Ventura Road, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays through Jan. 7.
* Countywide: California Wood Recycling and the Worm Concern are drop-off sites open to all residents.
Free mulch is available Jan. 10 to 30 at:
* California Wood Recycling, 3450-A Ventura Road, Ventura, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays.
* The Worm Concern, 1450 Tierra Rejada Road, Simi Valley, 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturdays.
