Residents Given Incentives to Recycle Trees

Other than the obvious incentive of saving landfill space, residents who are just getting around to taking down their Christmas trees are being given an extra incentive to recycle their evergreens.

From discount tickets for Universal Studios to complimentary bags of garden compost and topsoil to free pickup service, public agencies throughout Los Angeles County are attempting to involve more people in the growing tradition of closing the holiday season in an environmentally conscious way.

“A lot of people keep their trees through the new year,” said Kathi Delegal, environmental affairs coordinator for the Los Angeles County Waste Division.

Division volunteers are giving $3 Universal Studios coupons to residents who bring their trees to one of 17 drop-off sites.

“The coupons are a way to say thank you to those who take the time to put their trees in their cars and deliver them to our sites,” Delegal said.

“There are a lot of dry trees out there and they are fire hazards. Now’s the time to get them recycled.”

The county recycled more than 10,600 trees last year and expects more people to participate this weekend when residents can drop their trees off Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

County drop-off sites in the San Fernando Valley are in Gates Canyon Park, 25801 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Calabasas, and Crescenta Valley Park, 3901 Dunsmore Ave., La Crescenta. Information on the county’s tree recycling program is available at (800) 552-5218.

The cities of Los Angeles, Glendale, Burbank and San Fernando also are asking residents to recycle their trees.

The city of Los Angeles will collect trees Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Sunland Park and Recreation Center, 8651 Foothill Blvd.; the Balboa Sports Center, 17015 Burbank Blvd., Encino, and Branford Park, 13300 Branford St., Panorama City. In exchange for the trees, volunteers will hand out free bags of garden topsoil.

Valley residents served by the city’s automated trash-collection service can also cut their trees into pieces small enough to fit into their green containers for yard trimmings and place them at curbside to be picked up with the rest of their trash. For more information, call (800) 587-3356.

Burbank residents can get their trees recycled if they are cut and stored in the green containers provided by the city’s automated trash-collection service. For more information, call (818) 953-3152.

Glendale will operate its drop-off collection sites between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays through Jan. 20. The sites are at Brand Park, 1601 W. Mountain Ave.; Verdugo Park, 1621 Canada Blvd.; Glendale Recycling Center, 800 Flower St.; Clark Community Center, 4747 New York Ave., and the Integrated Waste Management Yard, 548 W. Chevy Chase Drive.

Glendale trash collectors also will pick up whole trees from the curbs of residents already receiving trash collection services. For more information, call (818) 548-3916.

The city of San Fernando will pick up whole trees from the curbs of residents already receiving trash collection services from the city’s waste management division. For more information, call (818) 898-1242.

All county and city recycling programs require that trees be stripped of all ornaments, stands, tinsel, nails and flocking (fake snow) before they are collected. Trees collected will be ground directly into mulch to be used in garden compost, officials said.