Christmas is over and the City of High Point is telling people what they can do with their Christmas trees.
Namely, they can put them in front of their houses and city crews will pick them up.
The City of High Point’s yard waste collection services resumed on Monday, Jan. 4, and, on the same day, the city sent out a press release to let Christmas revelers know that their Christmas trees – as well as the greenery they may have used to deck their halls – can be disposed of as ordinary yard waste.
The release added that decorations such as wire, tape, gaudy Christmas lights, tasteful Christmas lights, rope and tinsel, on the other hand, aren’t yard waste and must be removed before trees or greenery will be collected by the city.
“Trees with lights and ornaments will not be collected until they have been removed,” the city warns.
Actually, something better to do would be to pack up the artificial tree and use it again next year.
High Point may find itself picking up more trees than usual this year. Last month, The New York Times ran an article titled, “Christmas tree sales are booming as pandemic-weary Americans seek solace.” The Times story stated that, across the country, Christmas tree grower associations were finding that retailers were running through their tree supplies quickly, and that growers were reporting a big increase in sales. The story also stated that data suggested the sales of artificial trees were also up.
The Monday press release from High Point reminded residents that artificial trees are a different animal than live trees.
“Artificial trees and wreaths should be placed with bulk garbage for collection,” the release stated. “These contain metal and should not travel to the city compost facility.”
