By Tricia Pursell
Each year, families look hard to find the perfect Christmas tree, lug it into their homes and lavishly decorate it. But what do you do with the festive fir once all the celebrations are over?
Valley recycling coordinators encourage residents to take advantage of curbside pickups and drop-off centers aimed at putting the pines to good use, even after the holiday spirit has faded.
“Putting it at the curb for a trash hauler to pick up would be my last choice for disposal,” said Debbie Wolf, Snyder County recycling coordinator.
As a renewable and natural resources, the trees can return to nature and provide habitat for small animals, she said. They also can be ground into mulch for landscaping and gardening, or chipped and shredded into wood chips.
Trees get second life
In Northumberland County, a drop-off site for Christmas trees and wood pallets is along Route 901 in Excelsior. Called the Alaska Site, the location is the main gate for a thousand acres of county-leased land on which Habitat for Wildlife, of Shamokin, places the pallets and trees to provide shelter for small animals, such as rabbits and birds.
Close to 3,500 trees in the past four years have been collected and used for this purpose, according to the organization’s president, Dave Kaleta.
“Landfill space is expensive,” he said. “This takes away from the burden of constantly looking for new places to put landfills.”
Northumberland County Recycling Coordinator Dale Henry agrees. When more landfills are created, he said, the price per bag of garbage will increase for residents, because the trash eventually will need to be trucked farther.
Rural residents often discard trees in wooded areas, Henry said. The trees eventually decompose into their natural state.
Meanwhile, boroughs and cities throughout the region offer their own curbside pickup programs. According to Henry, Christmas tree pickup is not something that is typically required for county government, but it’s a service that most municipalities offer.
Curbside pickups under way
Milton, Sunbury, Shamokin, Coal Township and Mount Carmel are communities in Northumberland County that are mandated to offer a curbside program for leaf and brush pickup. As part of that service, they also pick up Christmas trees.
Sunbury’s Public Works Department began Christmas tree pickups on Monday and will continue for two weeks, according to laborer Ken Long. City residents also may take their trees to the city’s brush pile on North Fourth Street from 7:30 to noon on Saturdays.
Trees are to be free of any decorations, garland or bags.
In Snyder County, Beaver Springs area residents may take their trees to the trash disposal and recycling center on Stage Road from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays; the Middleburg borough road crew will pick up trees on Jan. 14; Penn Township residents may put their trees at the curb the week of Jan. 4 or take their trees to the new yard waste and composting site at the end of Gaugler Lane; and in Shamokin Dam, curbside pickups also will be available. Trees also may be dropped off at Shaffer Landscapes at 53 Old Route 522, behind the Middleburg Veterinary Service, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays through January. Mahlon Boop, who lives a mile west of Kratzerville on Route 204, also is collecting Christmas trees in a brush pile at his home.
Selinsgrove residents are being offered a curbside pickup service Jan. 4-8. Trees also may be dropped off at the borough’s compost yard, located at the southern end of Strawberry Alley.
According to Borough Manager John Bickhart, the trees are ground up with a tub grinder at least twice a year, along with other brush, limbs, yard wastes and leaves, are composted and then turned into landscaping mulch that is made available to residents at no charge.
Through the end of January, trees also will be picked up in Lewisburg, taken to a brush pile and ground up into mulch, which is made available to residents, according to borough Foreman George Stump. Residents also may take their trees to the borough’s recycling center, which is open all day on Wednesdays and on Saturday mornings.
Danville borough also offers curbside pickup, which began Monday and will continue through Jan. 18. Mahoning Township’s curbside service will be offered every Monday from Jan. 4 through Feb. 1.
