City offers tree disposal

McMinnville?s Urban Forestry Department and Boyd Christian?s National Honor Society would like to remind everyone to beautify McMinnville by dropping off their old Christmas tree at one of three areas this year.

?We recycle the trees,? said maintenance manager for the department J.J. Hillis. ?We mulch them ourselves. Once the mulch has cured, we use the mulch around town and it helps beautify the area.?

According to Hillis, not only will residents be beautifying their neighborhood by dropping off their tree, they will be keeping the trees from ending up in a landfill which doesn?t beautify or enhance the area.

Helping with the recycling effort again this year will be the dedicated students of Boyd?s Honor Society. This is the fifth year the students have lent a helping hand to the department and their community said the National Honor Society sponsor Linda Love.

One of those helping will be Cassaundra Trapp, a senior.

?I love to participate,? said Trapp as this will be her fourth year helping with the project. ?We do it so we can help recycle trees. It makes us feel better because we are helping our community.?

Despite the cold, helping out is fun every year. There is one thing that?s particularly amusing every year.

?The funniest thing about recycling Christmas trees,? said Trapp jokingly, ?is trying to keep the trees on the truck without them falling off and hitting someone else?s vehicle.?

The students will be collecting the trees from the drop off sites located around the city and carefully bringing them to the Department of Urban Forestry to begin the mulching part of the recycling process.

Although every cut tree counts towards beautifying McMinnville, some things don?t count. The department would like to request that some things not be dropped off with the tree, and asks that people using the service follow these guidelines:

? Remove all ornaments and tinsel.

? Remove everything that was used as a stand from the tree.

? Trees with spray-on snow can not be recycled. Do not drop off trees with spray-on snow.

Trees can be dropped off until Jan. 15 at three different locations:

? Civic Center – 500 W. Garfield Street.

? Boyd Christian School – Morrison Street.

? Three Star Mall – 70S and Sparta Highway.

Please call the Department of Urban Forestry at 474-TREE (8733) for more information.