London, Ont. company offers curbside Christmas tree pickup with food bank donation

A London, Ont., company is sliding in to fill the gap after the City of London said it would no longer be picking up Christmas trees at the curb.

In 2020, curbside pickup was removed by the city as a cost-saving measure, which prompted Frattas Event Planning and Design to come up with a unique idea to help people get rid of their Christmas greenery while supporting a local charity.

For the second year in a row, the organization is holding its Christmas Tree Wrap-Up, where Londoners can donate a minimum of $10 to the London Food Bank and have their tree picked up curbside in return.

“I have a long history of doing charitable fundraisers, so my team and I came up with the idea to do some volunteer work and give back through some of the skills that we have,” said owner Katerina Frattas.

The company has partnered with Bennett Truck Rentals and will be driving around on Jan. 8 and 9, 2022, in the 16-foot trucks gathering the Christmas trees of those who have registered. The trees will then be taken to the city’s EnviroDepots, where they will be disposed of properly.

Registration is open until Jan. 7. Frattas says to register soon as they do have capacity limits, adding that if all the spots are filled before that date, they’ll let people know via social media.

When asked how the community has responded to the initiative, Frattas says “Londoners have been loving it.”

“People have been reaching out and letting us know it was super helpful last year and that they are excited to participate again this year.”

Frattas says they are expanding just slightly this year to include pickups in Belmont, Ont., on Jan. 9.

According to Frattas, they had a late launch last year but were still able to collect more than 200 Christmas trees and raise over $3,000 for the food bank.

“We’re already tracking beyond that this year and we’re hoping to raise even more. We have a goal of doubling it, which is ambitious, but hopefully we can do it this year,” she said.

You can register and donate online.

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If you’re planning to dispose of the Christmas tree yourself, you can head to one of the city’s EnviroDepots, or you can put the Christmas tree in your backyard and create a habitat for birds. Once spring rolls around, trees that are three metres or shorter can be placed at the curb for regular yard waste collection.