Christmas tree recycling in the South Okanagan

PENTICTON – It's easy to recycle your Christmas tree in the South Okanagan.

Penticton firefighters will pick up Christmas trees from Dec. 27 to Jan. 18 for a donation which will go the the B.C. Professional Firefighters Burn Fund and Muscular Dystrophy charities. You can call 250-490-2315 to arrange for collection. Trees can also be dropped off at the fire hall at 285 Dawson Ave. from Dec. 26 until Jan. 31.

People in Summerland can request collection of their trees for a donation by calling the fire hall at 250-404-4088, or by emailing the fire department at std@summerland.ca. Summerland high school students will also collect trees for a donation to their dry grad festivities.

In Oliver, you can drop trees off at the south gate of the public works yard at 5971 Sawmill Rd. The local Air Cadets are operating the program from Dec. 26 to Jan. 8.

The Kinsmen Park is the Osoyoos location for Christmas tree drop off, adjacent to the washrooms in the park. Residents can also leave their trees in the northwest corner of the parking lot below the Sun Bowl Arena sign until Jan. 11.

Arrangements have been made in Naramata to have trees collected during the week of Jan. 18. Call Craig Henderson at 250-496-5222, or send him an email at craig@vip.net to have your tree collected by volunteers. Trees should be free of all ornaments and decorations.

All Okanagan Similkameen Regional District landfills accept clean, natural Christmas trees free of charge.

If you have any questions call the solid waste department at 250-490-412 or toll free at 1-877-610-3737. You can also go to the regional district's website.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Steve Arstad at sarstad@infonews.ca or call 250-488-3065. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.