Time to recycle the trees

Christmas is over. Santa and his elves are kicking back in the Bahamas. The kids are already trashing their toys. And you’re stuck with a dead tree in the living room dropping sharp needles onto your plush carpet.

What to do?

Steve Benson has a suggestion: Fling that dead thing on the roof of the car and drop it off at one of seven recycling locations.

Benson, general manager of the El Pomar Youth Sports Park, said that the cost is just $5 a tree — about half what your garbage hauler will charge — and that all the proceeds will be used for local youth sports programs.

Six of the recycling locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and on Jan. 6 and Jan. 7. A seventh location, Rocky Top Resources, is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday beginning today through Jan. 30, except New Year’s Day.

This is the fifth year for the Treecycle program, a collaborative effort between the city and county and a number of local businesses. The effort has been so successful, a seventh location, this one in Falcon, has been added this year to serve the growing population east of Colorado Springs.

The recycling effort raises about $14,000 a year, Benson said. Each year, a portion of the proceeds pays for five weeks of summer sports camps at the park for kids in the Boys and Girls Clubs and in Harrison School District.

In addition, youth volunteers man six of the seven recycle locations to raise money for their sports programs. This year, teens from the Rampart High School cross country team and softball team will be manning two locations. A Boy Scout troop will help unload trees at a third location.

Teens from the TEVA track club, which includes high school track athletes from around the city, will be manning three other drop-off locations. Benson said the club is raising money to rent a bus to take athletes to a national track meet in Idaho.

Benson said such meets are often the only place high school track athletes can be seen by college coaches.

“It’s a great way for people to support youth programs but also to keep trees out of landfills,” he said.

The trees are mulched and used for erosion and weed control by local governments and Colorado Springs Utilities.

People are asked to remove all Christmas decorations from their trees before dropping them off.

WOODLAND PARK

In an unrelated effort, Woodland Park is once again providing tree recycling for its residents. Christmas trees free of decorations can be dropped off at a trash bin by the tennis courts in Meadow Wood Park on Evergreen Heights Drive. The bin, donated by Waste Management, will be available from Sunday through Jan. 8.

The trees will be recycled courtesy of Rocky Top Resources.