Now that that’s over, don’t forget to recycle your Christmas tree.
Starting Tuesday, Dec. 26, the city of Tucson is offering nine sites where you can drop off undecorated Christmas trees to be ground into mulch.
City waste crews won’t collect Christmas trees from curbs or alleys. If you want to make sure yours gets put to sustainable use, you have to drop it off at one of the following TreeCycle sites, which are open during daylight hours seven days a week unless otherwise noted:
9451 N. Egleston Drive in Oro Valley just north of James D. Kriegh Park (enter off of Linda Vista Blvd., as there is no access from Calle Concordia; this site doubles as a fundraiser for the Kiwanis Club);
Golf Links Sports Park, 2400 S. Craycroft Road;
Tucson Rodeo Grounds on Third Ave. north of Irvington Road;
Los Reales Sustainability Campus, 5300 E. Los Reales Road (enter at intersection of Craycroft Road and Los Reales Road and follow signs; open 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday);
Tank’s Speedway Recycling & Landfill Facility, 7301 E. Speedway (turn north on Prudence Road; open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday);
Tank’s Ina Land Reclamation Facility, 5300 W. Ina Road (one-quarter mile west of I-10; open 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday);
Purple Heart Park, 9820 E. Rees Loop (please drop your tree by the dog park around the corner on Rees Loop, not at the parking lot by the swimming pool);
Randolph Golf Course, 600 S. Alvernon Way (southeast corner of parking lot);
Joaquin Murrieta Park, 1375 N. El Rio Drive (drive north on El Rio from Speedway and follow the signs; drop-off location is next to the Boys and Girls Club)
For added environmental benefits, city officials encourage people to “tree-pool” by dropping off their neighbor’s tree at the same time they bring their own. “Fewer trips mean cleaner air,” officials said in a news release.
Just don’t try to dispose of any other yard waste at these locations. The TreeCycle Program is for Christmas trees only.
And don’t worry if you’re not ready to part with your Christmas cheer just yet. The TreeCycle locations are open until Jan. 15.
