The Riverside County Waste Management Department is working with the California Department of Fish and Game to collect Christmas trees at county landfills and provide them for fish habitat.
Christmas trees collected at the Badlands, Blythe and Lamb Canyon landfills, through the free Christmas tree drop-off program, will be provided to the Department of Fish and Game who will sink the trees in local lakes and waterways so that juvenile fish have a little more protection from larger predatory fish.
Trees must be prepared for recycling by removing all decorations, lights, tinsel, and tree stands. Flocked trees cannot be recycled and need to be cut up and placed in your regular trash container. Trees over 4 feet tall should be cut in half.
For those who don’t have a curbside pickup program, there are several drop-off locations that will accept up to three residential prepared trees for free for two weeks after Christmas:
- Burrtec Recycle Center, 41-800 Corporate Way, Palm Desert
- Riverside County Badlands Landfill, 31125 Ironwood Ave., Moreno Valley
- Riverside County Lamb Canyon Landfill, 16411 Lamb Canyon Road, Beaumont
Unfortunately, trees that are not recycled at drop-off locations or through curbside pick-up will only occupy valuable space in our landfills. Make the last gift you give this year to the earth a recycle Christmas Tree.
If you would like more information on this program, please call Riverside County Waste Management Department (951) 486-3200 or visit the website at www.rivcowm.org.
