If you bought and decorated a live Christmas tree before Thanksgiving, chances are it’s dried out by now and dropping needles, and you’re ready to literally kick it to the curb.

The City can help.

The easiest and most ecologically beneficial way for city residents to dispose of a Christmas tree after the holidays is to simply remove lights and decorations, then place it at the street for collection. Public Service Department crews pick up discarded holiday greenery, just like they pick up brush left on the side of the street.

Christmas trees, like leaves and other brush, are delivered to Living Earth, where they are mulched and composted with other organic material into various yard products that the company markets and sells. Each year, Living Earth provides up to 1,000 cubic yards of hardwood mulch and 200 cubic yards of playground mulch to the City that City horticulture crews use to landscape public beds and parks.

Note that Public Service Department crews are concentrating on leaf collection this time of year, so brush – including discarded Christmas trees – is not collected on the regular two-week schedule followed during most of the year.

If you want that tree gone right away, city residents can also take advantage of Knox County’s Tree-Cycling program. There is no fee to those willing to haul their unwanted Christmas trees to any Knox County convenience center throughout January. As with curbside pickup, the trees taken to a Knox County convenience center are likewise mulched and diverted from the landfill.