Recycling the Christmas Tree

Christmas is done and over with, but the tree may still be up. Keeping it up through until the new year is common, but it's going to have to come down at some point.

The Pinellas County Utilities website has a list of the areas that will help recycle your tree, rather than just destroying it.

Before recycling your tree, the utilities department asks that you clean your tree of all ornaments and put it in a accessible area for pickup. The tree shouldn't be put in a bag or bin for pick up. 

- Indian Rocks Beach: Put it in the curbside collection with yard waste on Wednesdays. Call 595-6889. 

- Treasure Island: Put it in the curbside collection with yard waste on the regular pick up day. Call 547-4575, ext. 253. 

- Madeira Beach: Put in in the curbside collection with yard waste on Wednesdays. Call 391-1611. 

Not all the cities on the beaches will recycle the tree, but they will all dispose of it. All these cities will pick up the tree with the regular trash pick up.

- Belleair Beach, call 595-4646, ext. 120. 

- Belleair Bluffs, call 584-2151. 

- Belleair Shore, call 595-7548. 

- Indian Shores, call 595-4020.  

- North Redington Beach, call 391-4848. 

- Redington Beach, call 391-3875.

- Redington Shores, call 397-5538. 

- St. Pete Beach, call 363-9248.

If you feel like making the drive to make sure it's recycled, anyone can drop a tree off at the Pinellas County Solid Waste facility, 3095 114th Ave. N., St. Petersburg. The trees will be recycled into mulch to be given away free to the public. The cost is $3 per load for a maximum of five trees. If you have friends and family with their own trees to get rid of, it makes sense to work together.