Make your Christmas tree greener

After the festive season Aucklanders can dispose of unwanted Christmas trees at over a dozen locations across the region.

By taking them to a waste transfer station or a Christmas tree farm, the trees can be recycled into mulch or compost, reducing the amount of green waste sent to landfill.

Some Christmas tree suppliers will accept trees of any size, while waste transfer stations will accept trees with a trunk less than 10cm in diameter.

For example, Mount Gabriel Christmas Tree Farm will accept any Christmas tree at their Drury farm.

Mount Gabriel owner Ashley Commerer said: “At the end of the festive season, we’re inviting people to take their tree to our Sutton Road farm and we will mulch it to use on our fields. Our gates are open just after Christmas and in January so come on down and throw yours on the pile, even if it wasn’t bought from us. It’s our commitment to having a sustainable and environmentally friendly Christmas tree farm.”

Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse says: “This is a great way to get rid of your unwanted tree. Rubbish bins and landfills are not the place for Christmas trees, nor is the side of the road. Mount Gabriel’s approach is a wonderful example of product stewardship. It’s just the kind of thing Auckland’s draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan seeks to deliver.”

The draft Waste Management and Minimisation Plan campaign asks Aucklanders to take a closer look at what they throw out in the rubbish, with a focus on putting resources to better use.

“We need to find better ways to re-use resources and send less waste to landfill,” says Deputy Mayor Penny Hulse. “Green waste and food scraps currently make up around fifty percent of the weight of the average Auckland rubbish bag or bin. We’re proposing a collection service that could use that valuable resource for composting, instead of sending it to landfill.”

Submissions on the plan close on 31 January 2012. The public and businesses can also attend a hearing to speak in support of their submission. Auckland Council will consider all submissions and hearings before the final Waste Management and Minimisation Plan is adopted in May/June 2012.