Where to dispose of your natural Christmas trees

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) - After all the gifts have been opened for Christmas, what do you do with your natural Christmas tree?

Angel Lopez Portillo, Spokesperson for Texas A&M Forest Service, said the best way to dispose of a natural tree is to recycle it.

“There are different ways to do that. One of them is to recycle Christmas trees. To recycle them, real trees are biodegradable. Many communities have a tree recycling program,” Portillo said.

One of the many ways is to put your tree in a pond or in your yard - this has many benefits to the ecosystem.

“When you place them in the yard or landscapes, the tree breaks down. It makes a good fertilizer for the plants and helps the soil out. When you put them in a pond, it does help retain some of that water and help the fish with nourishment,” Portillo said.

Portillo added that it is bad to use your tree as firewood indoors due to the oils that come from the tree. The most popular way to dispose of a tree is by turning it into mulch.

Chris Horgen, public information officer for the City of Wichita Falls talked about the natural Christmas tree disposal program. It has been going on for over 35 years.

“Right now, they are being used for compost. They use them as compost at the sanitation department, they use those to grind them up and they use them in our compost program that we turn back to citizens twice a year with the compost pick up,” Horgen said.

The program will start the day after Christmas and runs until Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023. Horgen mentioned the many locations where people can drop off their natural trees.

“There are four locations. You can go to Lucy Park, Kiwanis Park, or the landfill, or you can drop them off at the transfer station and the city will take them and take care of them and get them off your hands,” Horgen said.

City park drop-off locations and hours will be until Sunday, January 8, 2023, and are as follows:

• Lucy Park on Sunset Lane off Seymour Highway - drive to the far west side of the park following the signs; this location is open 24 hours a day until Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023
• Kiwanis Park, located at 4400 Southwest Parkway next to the Parks Maintenance Building at the entrance of the park - this location is open 24 hours a day until Sunday, Jan. 8, 2023

Additional drop-off locations are as follows:

• The City Transfer Station is located at 3200 Lawrence Road - It’s open from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• The City Landfill is located at 10984 Wiley Road - it’s open from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Keep in mind that the transfer station and landfill will be closed on certain days for the Christmas and New Year’s breaks. Those adjusted hours can be found by clicking here. For questions or more information, call the sanitation department at (940) 761-7977.

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