Skip to main content
Donate

L.A. Mayor Urges Christmas Tree Safety, Recycling

By City News Service
December 21, 2012
Support Provided By
los-angeles-christmas-tree-recycling

Photo: life is good (pete)/Flickr/Creative Commons License

Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Fire Department officials today urged Angelenos to recycle their live Christmas trees in order to boost recycling and reduce fire hazards.

The mayor and Fire Chief Brian Cummings demonstrated how to recycle the trees properly this morning at a fire station in the Cypress Park neighborhood.

Residents can recycle trees in three ways: by cutting them into pieces and placing them into the green yard-waste bins, by leaving the trees intact on the curb next to the green bins on collection days, and by dropping the trees at one of 21 drop-off sites on Sunday, Jan. 6 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

"This holiday season every Angeleno can give a gift to Mother Nature by recycling our Christmas trees," Villaraigosa said. "If every Angeleno pitches in and recycles their Christmas trees, together we can increase recycling so significantly that we will lead the nation in waste diversion and reduce the number of Christmas tree-related fires in the City."

Firefighters respond annually to more than 200 Christmas tree-related fires that cause, on average, 10 deaths and more than $10 million in property damage, according to the mayor's office.

"Dried-out Christmas trees create a significant fire hazard," Cummings said. "That's why, for the safety of everyone in your household, it's important to ensure that Christmas trees are watered, cared for, and removed from the home soon after the holidays."

The city began recycling trees in 1992 and now turns about 100,000 trees per year into mulch and compost, which are used throughout the city.

Support Provided By
Read More
An oil pump painted white with red accents stands mid-pump on a dirt road under a blue, cloudy sky with a green, grassy slope in the background.

California’s First Carbon Capture Project: Vital Climate Tool or License to Pollute?

California’s first attempt to capture and sequester carbon involves California Resources Corp. collecting emissions at its Elk Hills Oil and Gas Field, and then inject the gases more than a mile deep into a depleted oil reservoir. The goal is to keep carbon underground and out of the atmosphere, where it traps heat and contributes to climate change. But some argue polluting industries need to cease altogether.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
By Alejandro Lazo, CalMatters
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
By Emma Foehringer Merchant, Inside Climate News