Now that Christmas is over, you might be thinking, what do we do with this tree? Thankfully, recycling your tree in San Luis Obispo County is pretty simple.
First, take off anything that isn’t organic. That means ornaments, lights and stands will all have to go. After that step, tree recycling isn’t that complicated.
Coby Skye is the Executive Director of the SLO County Integrated Waste Management Authority. He says one of the most common questions he gets this time of year is about tree recycling, which is basically just composting.
“It is kind of weird to think about your tree being kind of ground up and turned back into another tree,” Skye said. “But essentially that's what composting is.”
Most local garbage services will let you put your tree in the green waste bin if it’s been cut into pieces that are less than four feet long.
Artificial trees can go in the normal garbage bin. Flocked trees can’t be composted and will also have to go in the trash.
The city of San Luis Obispo is debuting a new service this year. Residents living in a single-family home can now leave their entire tree on the curb, without having to cut it into smaller pieces. Residents living in a single-family home can just leave the tree out between December 29 and January 9. For apartment complexes and multi-family homes, property managers can call San Luis Garbage to schedule a pickup day.
Christmas trees have to be small enough to be safely picked up by one person and especially tall trees will need to be cut up into smaller pieces.
In Paso Robles, residents can put their Christmas tree on the curb on their normal pickup day, as long as they are six feet or shorter. Taller trees will need to be cut into smaller pieces. Tree pickup will run from December 29 to January 9.
