There are several ways to rid yourself of the Christmas tree still standing in your home littering dry needles onto your living room floor. Among them are tree chipping events, a number of which raise money for schools or other charities.
UBC Botanical Garden at 6804 Southwest Marine Dr. is running a Christmas tree recycling fundraiser from 9: 30 a.m. to 4: 30 p.m. until Jan. 9.
The suggested donation is $5, which will help expand the food garden at Thunderbird elementary school. The East Side school hopes to add a three-bin cedar composter and a small orchard garden, a project sponsored by the Society Promoting Environmental Conservation.
UBC Botanical Garden marketing manager Katie Teed said it has held the tree-recycling event for many years.
"Then four years ago our director decided it would be a good idea to donate the funds to a local school," she said.
The botanical garden initially worked with the school board to identify schools but last year it partnered with SPEC and the money now goes to one of the group's school community gardens. The total money donated has increased, according to Teed.
"We started out with about $300 and now we're up to around $500," she said. "So it's not a huge amount of money, but it does make a big impact on the school."
Trees are chipped into mulch and used on garden trails. Decorations must be removed and no yard trimmings will be accepted as they may contain invasive plants that could harm the botanical garden.
The Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Area is holding its fourth-annual tree chipping event from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Jan. 6 at Kingsgate Mall at 370 East Broadway.
Chipping is by donation. Proceeds are earmarked for Mount Pleasant elementary for its school field trips. Cookies and hot chocolate will be provided. The mall allows the use of its lower east side parking lot. Arbutus Tree Service chips the trees. Last year, the event enjoyed its most successful year. Almost 200 trees were dropped off to raise $1,677 for the school.
The City of Vancouver and Lions Club annual tree-chipping events are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Jan. 5 and 6 at four sites - Kerrisdale Community Ice Rink parking lot (East Boulevard north of 41st Avenue), Kitsilano Beach parking lot (Cornwall Avenue and Arbutus Street), Sunset Beach upper parking lot (Beach Avenue and Broughton Street) and Rona Home and Garden Grandview Store (2727 East 12th Ave. in the overflow parking lot north of Grandview Hwy, south of 12th Avenue). Cash and non-perishable food donations collected at the events will be distributed to local charities.
If your house receives city yard trimmings/ food scraps collection, you can put your tree out for collection until Jan. 31. Lay the tree on its side - don't bag or bundle it. Place it one metre away from carts. Residents can also drop trees off at the Vancouver South Transfer Station at 377 West Kent Ave. North or the Vancouver Landfill on the 5400 block of 72nd Street in Delta until Jan. 31.
