The City of Calgary offers a great recycling program to help you dispose of your used Christmas trees responsibly. Christmas tree composting program. Make it a green Christmas and compost your real tree.
Help keep Christmas trees out of the landfill by using your green cart or a City drop-off location.
There are now two ways to compost your real tree:
1. Compost your real tree using your green cart
After you have removed all lights, ornaments, tinsel and string – follow the same steps as you would for branches from your yard: Cut your tree into small pieces to put into your green cart and make sure the lid can close. If your green cart is full, tie extra branches (no more than four feet long) together with a natural fibre string or place them in paper yard waste bags. Set tied branches or yard waste bags at least one foot from the side of your green cart. NOTE: Trees that are not prepared this way will not be collected.
2. Drop-off locations
Take your tree one of the following temporary drop-off locations between December 26 and Jan 31: First, remove all ornaments, lights, tinsel and tree stands. Do not wrap, tie or bag your tree. Auburn Bay Off-Leash Area 52nd St and Auburn Bay Dr S.E. Bottomlands Park St. George’s Drive N.E. (soccer field parking lot) Bowness 7937 43 Ave N.W. (next to community recycling depot) Braeside Park 256 Brookpark Drive S.W. Confederation Park 905 30 Ave N.W. (east parking lot) Huntington Hills Athletic Park 7920 4th St. at Huntstrom Dr. N.E. IKEA 8000 11 Street S.E. (Northwest corner of parking lot behind store) Marda Loop Communities Association 3130 16th Street S.W. North Glenmore Park 6615 37 Street S.W. (Weaselhead parking lot) Park 96 – 14660 Parkland Blvd S.E. Pop Davies/ Ogden Athletic Park Ogden Rd & Millican Rd SE Prairie Winds Park Westwinds Crescent N.E. and Castleridge Blvd N.E. (north parking lot) Sacramento Parks Depot 10400 Sacramento Drive S.W. A City Landfill Location (Free residential drop-off between Dec 26 and Jan 31)
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I have to cut my tree up for Green Cart collection? We require trees be cut up for composting because the pieces must be small enough to fit into your green cart. All of our collection trucks use the carts for automated collection, and we are unable to load materials manually. Even bagged or tied branches are placed into the green cart and then emptied into the truck. What are the benefits of composting my Christmas tree? Collected trees will be composted with the other food and yard waste collected through the Green Cart program. By composting your Christmas tree, you can keep waste out of our landfills and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Can we get any of the compost back? There will be “Compost Give-Away” weekends in 2018 to provide free compost to residents. Details will be released in spring 2018. Mulch is available for free to residents for gardening and landscaping at City landfills, while supplies last. Can’t I just put my tree in my black cart? No. Food and yard waste must be put in your green cart. Black carts containing Christmas trees will not be collected. Can I compost my evergreen wreath? Yes, you can put your evergreen wreath in your green cart or it can be dropped off with your real tree at any of the drop-off locations. However, it needs to be stripped of all ornaments, bindings or wrappings.
For more information about the Christmas Tree Recycling Drop Off locations and the Program, visit calgary.ca/christmastree.