By Charles Lefebvre

Options for recycling Christmas trees in Medicine Hat

Dec 28, 2018 | 10:14 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — The city’s annual Christmas tree recycling program has resumed for another year.

The program sees natural trees being accepted at several drop off locations around the city, and they will be recycled into compost. The program began on Thursday and runs until January 31.

Drop-off locations can be found at Shamrock Bottle Depot, the recycling bins on Kipling Street, and in the southwest corner of the Medicine Hat Mall parking lot.

The city is reminding residents to remove all plastic bags, decorations, tinsel and the stand from the trees before dropping them off, noting if any of the items are on the tree, they cannot be recycled.

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Artificial trees can be dropped off at the city landfill.

The Nature Conservancy of Canada is also advising Canadians of another way to recycle their trees.

The organization says letting your tree decompose in your backyard garden naturally is also good for the environment, stemming from a study completed by biologists.

“It’s a small act of nature conservation that people can take in their own backyard,” said Jessica Panetta, national media relations manager with the organization, over the phone from Montreal on Friday. “They can get their whole families involved. It’s a nice lesson about ecology, and it shows you what trees actually naturally do in the forest.

“In the forest, nature recycles itself, it sustains itself, so when a tree falls on its side, that’s the sign of a healthy forest. You know the tree is going to recycle itself, decompose and enrich the soil. It’s a nice lesson on ecology.”

Panetta says the ideal place to put the tree in the backyard is near a bird feeder, noting birds can also use it as a resting spot while the tree decomposes.

During the spring, she recommends cutting the branches with a saw to help speed up the decomposition process.

If space in your backyard is an issue, Panetta recommends people take advantage of a city’s recycling program for Christmas trees