Take Care When Throwing Out Your Christmas Tree

The New Year's confetti is swept up and the champagne bottles are in the recycling bin.

In the coming week or so, many people will begin taking down their Christmas decorations. And that includes the Christmas tree.

If you have a real tree, Westlake Services Department will pick it up at the curb. The city has brush trucks out all year, said department head Paul Quinn. Crews will collect trees as they make their rounds of the city.

The trees are ground into wood chips, which residents can purchase for their landscaping next spring. In 2012, the cost was $2 for enough mulch to fill a 30-gallon container, or $1 per bushel.

The city also sells leaf humus for soil conditioning from the leaves it collected in the fall. Delivery of leaf humus and wood chip is available for Westlake residents only.

Quinn had some tips for disposing of the tree.

• Take all ornaments, tinsel, garland and lights off the tree. Trees are run through a tub grinder, and anything other than the tree will clog the machine.
• Make sure the tree is completely on the treelawn or yard and not on the road or sticking out onto it.

For more information on tree disposal, or to find out about the wood chip and leaf humus program, call the Service department at 440-617-4211.