Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful's Christmas tree recycling program is now underway, giving you an easy, eco-friendly way to dispose of your live tree.

Rather than ending up in a landfill, the trees will be shredded and turned to mulch.

(KTMB) is encouraging area residents to participate in its 30th annual Christmas Tree Recycling Program.

You can drop off trees from December 6 to January 7 for a suggested $5 donation.

Drop-off locations include:

  1. Bartley Ranch Regional Park: 6000 Bartley Ranch Rd, Reno - Staffed and accepting non-working Christmas lights.
  2. Reno Sports Complex: 2975 N. Virginia Street, Reno - Staffed and accepting non-working Christmas lights.
  3. Shadow Mt. Sports Complex: 3300 Sparks Blvd, Sparks - Staffed and accepting non-working Christmas lights.
  4. Truckee Meadows Fire Station - Spanish Springs: 500 Rockwell Blvd (unmanned drop-off location)
  5. Truckee Meadows Fire Station - Lemmon Valley: 130 Nectar Street (unmanned drop-off location)
  6. Truckee Meadows Fire Station - Washoe Valley: 1240 East Lake Blvd (unmanned drop-off location)

Also, the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe hosts a non-staffed drop-off location at the Community Garden off Hollywood Road.

"These trees were in people's homes and brought them so much joy, and here we are saving them so that they don't go to the landfill, and they're going to live on by being spread throughout the community," said KTMB Beautification and Clean Ups Program Manager. Marina McCreary.

The end product of KTMB's Christmas Tree Recycling Program is useful mulch.

"Truck loads of mulch. It's a lot of mulch; between all six collection sites, we average about ten thousand Christmas trees per year, and that gets shipped up, and it will all be spread through parks and open spaces for the rest of the year," said McCreary.

NV Energy Foundation sponsors KTMB's Christmas Tree Program, and local tree lots around town have tags on their trees that show you where you can drop them off.

We stopped by the Moana Nursery, where local Scout Troops 15 and 35 have operated a Christmas tree lot for three decades.

"It's just been a traditional thing here; we have a huge number of returning customers who are former troop members and people who have always come to buy Christmas trees at our lot. We tend to order superior products from Oregon and the Northern Sierra," explained Troop 35 Committee Chairman Mark Thompson

Troops 15 and 35 ordered around 900 trees this year, and they will expect to have about 50 left. The scouts will take the trees to the Bartley Ranch drop-off.

KTMB is also partnering with other Boy Scout troops who will haul the tree away from your house.

"Yes, we'll be participating in the KTMB Christmas Tree Recycling Program. There is also a Scouts4Trees roadside pickup program. People can find out about it if you put in Scouts 4 Trees recycling," said Thompson.

Check out KTMB's volunteer signup page to get involved with the program and help with conservation and beautification efforts in our community.