Make It A Green Christmas

Christmas tree

Tuolumne County, CA — With the presents opened and the family stuffed with turkey, soon all those decorations will have to come down – how about going green with O Tannenbaum?

Tuolumne County officials offer these environmentally friendly and safe ideas for getting rid of the tree, for free:

• Take the tree to the Earth Resource Facility
• Take the tree to the Groveland Transfer Station
• Call local franchise hauler to make arrangements to have it picked up. This is a limited service and certain conditions apply.
• Chip your tree at home and use the mulch on your property

*Trees must be free of all tinsel, decorations or nails in order to be taken.

• The county lists these drops off locations:
  Groveland Transfer Station 10700 Merrell Rd, Groveland CA 95321 Open: Wednesday and Saturday 8 a.m. – 3:45 p.m.
• Earth Resource Facility 14909 Camage Ave, Sonora CA 95370 Open: Tuesday – Saturday 8 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Trees dropped off here will be ground into mulch and taken to a co-generation plant to be burned to generate electricity. The mulch may also be used as an additive for compost at a local facility, farms and ranches or sold at the facility.

Of note, a person can take home a free load of mulch if they drop off a tree during the month of January at the facility. County officials describe the benefits of mulch stating that it helps to conserve water, cools soil temperature, prevent weed growth, reduces dust on pathways and adds nutrients to your compost pile.