Christmas tree disposal guide: rules vary by community

Got a live Christmas tree and need to dispose of it?

The guidelines on Long Island vary widely by town, village and city, and sometimes, even by neighborhood.

For example, in the Town of Oyster Bay, the process is simple: Leave your no-longer-needed live tree at the curb.

In the Town of Southold, it's more complicated, but rewarding. Town Solid Waste Coordinator James Bunchuck said all residents need to do is bring their trees — without lights and decorations — to the transfer station on Cox Lane, where they are weighed, then ground to mulch. Once ground, residents can get 500 pounds of free mulch for the year. Tree disposal is free in Southold.

Like other communities, the City of Glen Cove holds an annual “Chip-A-Tree” gathering every January in Morgan Park, Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck said Wednesday. This year, it's Jan. 13 from 8 a.m. to noon. Trees also can be disposed of in a designated parking lot area at Morgan Park, daily beginning Saturday.

Here are some basics.

How should trees be prepared for disposal?

Remove all decorations, holiday lights, tinsel and other nonorganic matter from your tree. Some towns and villages require that you cut your tree into smaller, more easily disposable lengths. Many ban the disposal of trees or tree limbs in plastic bags.

What comes next?

As mentioned earlier, in some places the process is fairly straightforward, as in Oyster Bay, where you just need to leave your tree at the curb for pickup.

The guidelines are similar in the Town of Brookhaven, though they need to be separated from regular trash, and any tree over 6 feet in length must be either cut in half or brought to the town landfill.

In the Town of Babylon, trees can be placed at the curb on normal yard waste pickup days — with trees then placed at town beaches to prevent erosion.

In a host of other towns — Huntington, Islip and East Hampton — trees also can be left at curbside, according to officials and official town websites. Most are collected on normal yard waste pickup dates.

In the City of Long Beach, trees will be picked up at curbside on regular sanitation days.

Are artificial trees accepted?

In almost all cases, no. They must be disposed of with your normal trash.

What should you do if you're not sure of how to dispose of a live Christmas tree where you live?

Check your town, village or county website for disposal regulations. Or contact the sanitation department or public works department for your area to determine the specifics.

Are there special events for getting rid of live trees?

Yes, but again this varies by village and town. Some specifics:

The Town of North Hempstead holds a MulchFest recycling — or “treecycling” — event at parks through the town. Beginning Friday through Jan. 8, residents also can bring their live trees to the North Hempstead Beach Park North Lot on West Shore Road in Port Washington or Michael J. Tully Park on Evergreen Avenue in New Hyde Park to be “upcycled” and “treecycled” into mulch.

The Town of Hempstead Mulchfest will be held Jan. 13 and Jan. 14 at Baldwin Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Curbside tree disposal will take place Jan. 10, while town residents also can bring trees to a site at 1600 Merrick Rd., Merrick. Trees are often fed to goats.

While towns such as Riverhead pick up trees only on specific yard waste days, in Southampton, trees need to be brought for January disposal to town transfer stations.

In Smithtown, the highway department will collect discarded trees any weekday through January, though residents in gated locales and on private roads must contact their trash collection providers to check on their regulations.

On Shelter Island, residents must bring their trees to the town recycling center. Or they can have a collection service do so.