Laura Sturza
As the holidays wind down, residents can put their Christmas trees
to work by recycling them -- offering a seasonal gift to the
environment and protection from a potential fire hazard.
"If you bought a tree a week before Christmas, it's too dry to be
near your house, and if you've stored it near your garage, fence or
car, that is just a pile of fuel looking for ignition," Fire Capt.
Ron Bell said.
In addition, the trees should not be burned in a fireplace. Boxes
and wrapping paper should also not be used in place of logs, Bell
said.
"Those pine needles are so dry that they go straight up the flue
and you'll have sparks and ashes everywhere," Bell said.
Instead, residents can leave trees in the parkway curb, or alley
where their trash is normally collected on the regular pickup day and
city sanitation trucks will haul away the trees.
To prepare trees for recycling, people should remove tinsel and
ornaments, and dismantle the tree from stands and buckets. Flocked
trees cannot be composted. Residents with green waste containers are
asked to cut their trees to fit into the container.
Last year, more than 70 tons of Burbank Christmas trees were
composted through the city's recycling program and used for compost
and mulch, officials said. For more information about recycling, call
238-3800.
