City has several options for getting rid of Christmas trees
Before you throw out your old Christmas tree, here are some things to know.
The city of Columbia offers several options to recycle the tree.
Residents can leave the tree curbside, decorated or bare, until January 31. After that, the tree must be cut into 4-foot pieces.
The rules for curbside disposal are the same as garbage disposal, according to Steve Sapp with Columbia Public Works.
“We don’t want anything set out before 4 p.m. the day prior to the collection date,” Sapp said. “That means that if your collection day is Friday, you can set it out after 4 p.m. on Thursday.”
The tree and garbage will be collected together.
The other option is to drop the tree off — after removing all decorations — at a mulching site. There are two in Columbia: Capen Park off of Rock Quarry Road or Parkside off of Creasy Springs Road.
The rules in Jefferson City are quite different.
There is no curbside pickup in Jefferson City. Instead, residents are required to bring their bare trees to either Washington Park next to the ice rink, or the mulching site at 2417 South Ridge Drive.
Sapp said this proper disposal of the Christmas trees is actually good for the city.
“The tree itself decomposes very quickly and helps with what we call biomass in the reactor, which generates methane, which generates electricity for us,” he said.
