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Kick it to the curb or save it for the birds: how to get rid of Christmas trees in Montreal

Click to play video: 'The gift of giving Christmas trees a second life'
The gift of giving Christmas trees a second life
WATCH: Christmas is over and it’s time to say goodbye to the tree. Montrealers can put it out for the city to pick up. But as Global’s Brayden Jagger Haines reports, Nature Conservancy of Canada suggests people give their tree a second life. – Jan 8, 2020

With the holiday season wrapped, it’s time to get rid of your Christmas tree.

The City of Montreal is launching its annual tree collection for most boroughs on Wednesday.

The city is asking residents to place trees at the curb after 7 p.m. the night before collection or before 7 a.m. on collection day.

Pickup times and dates vary by borough. They are as follows:

  • Ahuntsic-Cartierville: Jan. 8 and 22
  • Anjou: Jan. 8 and 15
  • Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce: Jan. 8 and 15
  • Lachine: Jan. 8, 15, 22 and 29
  • LaSalle: Jan. 8 and 15
  • Le Plateau-Mont-Royal: Jan. 6 and 23
  • Le Sud-Ouest: Jan. 2 and 16
  • L’Île-Bizard–Sainte-Geneviève: Jan. 8 and 15
  • Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve: Jan. 8 and 15
  • Montréal-Nord: Jan. 8 and 15
  • Outremont: Jan. 13
  • Pierrefonds-Roxboro: Jan. 8 and 15
  • Rivière-des-Prairies–Pointe-aux-Trembles: Jan. 15
  • Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie: Jan. 8, 15 and 22
  • Saint-Laurent: Jan. 6 and 20 and Feb. 3
  • Saint-Léonard: Jan. 6 and 13
  • Verdun: Every day in January
  • Ville-Marie: Jan. 8, 15 and 22
  • Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension: Jan. 8, 15 and 22

The city says that every year, more than 25,000 trees avoid the landfill and are turned into wood chips to be used for energy recovery.

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Residents should also keep in mind that their trees should not be in bags and that all decorations, including hooks and tinsel, should be removed to ensure workers’ safety during the shredding process.

Creating An Ecosystem In your Own Backyard

Instead of kicking the tree to the curb the Nature Conservancy of Canada suggests you take it from the living room and install it outside in the yard.

“It’s a great opportunity to see ecology in your own backyard” said Communications Coordinator Sarah Hoida.

By keeping the tree Hoida said it will help provide local birds like goldfinches and chickadees with shelter during the long winter months.

The tree branches and trunk can provide habitat, hold moisture and help build up the soil, mimicking what happens with dead trees and branches in a forest.

Hoida says come spring time, as the tree decomposes, it will be a great source of enrichment for the garden.

Officials are also asking that the base of each tree is facing the street and that the tree is not covered in snow or blocking the sidewalk.

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Residents can also recycle trees at any of the city’s seven eco-centres.

With files from Global News’ Annabelle Olivier and Brayden Jagger Haines

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