Londoners given three extra days for Christmas tree disposal

With curbside pickup not an option, Londoners will once again have to make the trek to one of the city’s EnviroDepots to properly dispose of their old Christmas tree.

The City of London is reminding residents the winter greenery can be dropped off Wednesdays and Saturdays at the various depots. In addition to the regular two business days weekly, three special drop-off days have been added to the schedule. Trees will be accepted from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday, January 3, and January 8, city officials said.

All decorations, tinsel, garland, tree skirts, and lights need to be removed from trees destined for the EnviroDepot.

EnviroDepot locations in the city can be found here.

Residents who do not want to load their Christmas tree up and deliver it to the depot can also temporarily keep it in their backyard to provide winter protection for birds. Trees that are three metres or shorter can then be placed at the curb for regular yard waste collection in the spring.

Post holiday curbside tree collection has not been offered in London  since 2019. The service was scrapped by the previous city council as a way to cut costs at the start of 2020.

Waste and recycling operators in London are already seeing an uptick in the amount of trash at the curb. In an effort to help with the after Christmas collection, Londoners are asked to flatten boxes, place blue bins and garbage containers on level ground and not on snow banks, and put non-recyclable items like Christmas wrap, bags, and decorations directly in the trash.

Items such as clementine boxes, plastic toys, ribbons and bows, styrofoam and bubble wrap, and paper napkins and soiled paper plates are often placed in blue bins, but can’t actually be recycled, city officials said.

Fats, oils and grease, like gravy leftover from Christmas dinner, should be poured into a City of London fats, oils, and grease (FOG) cup and never disposed of down the drain. The cups are free and can be picked up at the city’s EnviroDepots.

Full FOG cups can be dropped back off at an EnviroDepot in order to be used to generate green energy. According to the city, one full FOG Cup can be turned into enough energy to power a refrigerator for an entire day.

Anyone unsure of what can and can’t be recycled is advised to download the Recycle Coach app.

Read original story from London Ontario – BlackburnNews.com