The holiday pine is pining and its woodsy, wintry scent is putting us in the holiday mood! We all love to smell freshly cut green fir garlands on our mantel and see a brightly decorated tree in our front window. But there are key tree tips that we should all keep for a safe holiday season:

  1. Buy a freshly-cut tree. 
  2. Always keep your tree further than three feet from any heat sources.
  3. Turn off tree lights while you’re sleeping and you’re away from your home.
  4. Water the tree daily so it doesn’t dry out as quickly.

And, when all the presents have been opened and the festivities have ended and you’re ready to say good-bye to your tree, remember to recycle your ‘firry friend’ so that it can become mulch. LA Sanitation & Environment makes it easy! Here’s how:

  1. Remove all decorations, tinsel and stand from the tree.
  2. Cut the tree into pieces, if necessary, to fit it into your green bin.
  3. Place the tree pieces inside your green bin and put it out for regular pick up on trash collection day.
  4. If your tree is too big to cut and place inside your green bin, simply place the tree curbside next to your green waste bin on collection day

Additional information on Christmas tree recycling may be found at LA Sanitation and Environment’s Christmas Tree Recycling webpage.

But until then, grab some egg nog, a few sugar cookies, a songbook and everyone join in…”O Christmas Tree…O Christmas Tree…”