Soon it’ll be time to get rid of your Christmas tree. Here’s how in Miami and Broward
For many of us in a year marked with little joy, we needed Christmas.
Now we need to get rid of the tree. Soon, anyway.
Here’s how you can do that properly in Miami-Dade and Broward.
Miami-Dade Christmas tree disposal
Miami-Dade is ready to accept trees for recycling from county residents who get waste collection services. The 10 Trash and Recycling Centers are open from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily.
The county also touts a “belated Christmas gift” for those who take their trees to a center or from trees collected curbside during regular pickups, too: Fresh mulch will be available for free in the early spring at the centers. Sign up to get an email alert for when you can go and pick up some mulch at cloud.info.miamidade.gov/christmastree. You’ll need your own bag or container.
But first, clean and strip the tree of all ornaments, tinsel, stands and plastic bags — and no flocked trees.
Here are the centers where you can drop off your clean, decoration-free tree:
▪ Eureka Drive, 9401 SW 184th St.
▪ Golden Glades, 140 NW 160th St.
▪ Moody Drive, 12970 SW 268th St.
▪ North Dade Landfill, 21500 NW 47th Ave.
▪ Norwood, 19901 NW Seventh Ave.
▪ Palm Springs North, 7870 NW 178th St.
▪ Snapper Creek, 2200 SW 117th Ave.
▪ South Miami Heights, 20800 SW 117th Ct.
▪ West Little River, 1830 NW 79th St.
▪ West Perrine, 16651 SW 107th Ave.
You can also drop off your tree at the West Miami-Dade Home Chemical Collection Center at 8801 NW 58th St. The hours are the same as the centers. (This site won’t be where you can pick up mulch later, though.)
Don’t feel like hauling your tree to a recycling center and prefer to put it out for curbside pickup? Crews will begin collecting trees by zones between Jan. 11 and Feb. 5. Here’s the schedule and your pickup week:
▪ Zone 1, Jan. 11-15, the south side of Southwest 152nd Street to Southwest 400th Street. Put the tree at the curb by Sunday, Jan. 10.
▪ Zone 2, Jan. 18-22, the south side of Southest 88th Street to the north side of Southwest 152nd Street. Put the tree at the curb by Sunday, Jan. 17.
▪ Zone 3, Jan. 25-29, the south side of Northwest 25th Street to the north side of Southwest 88th Street. Put the tree at the curb by Sunday, Jan. 24.
▪ Zone 4, Feb. 1-Feb. 5 at Northwest 215th Street to the north side of Northwest 25th Street. Put the tree at the curb by Sunday, Jan. 31.
Coral Gables
Coral Gables free recycling and disposal program began Dec. 28 for its residents.
Place your tree outside after 5 p.m. the day before your scheduled tree collection day and keep the tree separate from the regular trash and yard waste pile. If the tree is placed in the trash pile with the other stuff it won’t be recycled. Make sure you removed everything from the tree, including the stand. Don’t bag the tree or put flocked trees out for collection.
Here are the zones and dates:
▪ Coral Way to north city limits on these Mondays: Jan. 4 and 11.
▪ Coral Way to Bird Road on these Tuesdays: Jan. 5 and 12.
▪ Bird Road to Hardee Road on these Wednesdays: Dec. 30, Jan. 6 and 13.
▪ Hardee Road to Kendall Drive on these Thursdays: Dec. 31, Jan. 7 and 14.
▪ Kendall Drive to south city limits on these Fridays: Jan. 1, 8 and 15.
You can also bring your tree for recycling now through Jan. 15 to a drop-off area at the War Memorial Youth Center, 405 University Dr. The drop-off area is the west parking lot (south end), parallel to Segovia Street.
Need more info? Call 305-460-5346 or visit www.coralgables.com/waste.
Broward Christmas tree disposal
Broward County’s annual Chip-a-Tree recycling initiative for residents only is running through Jan. 18. The service is free and you bring your cleaned trees — stripped of decorations — to one of several parks where they will be chipped and used for landscaping through the county park system. You can bring two trees per car but not artificial trees.
Here are the parks but call for hours as they may vary:
▪ Brian Piccolo Park & Velodrome, 9501 Sheridan St., Cooper City; 954-357-5150.
▪ C. B. Smith Park, 900 N Flamingo Rd., Pembroke Pines; 954-357-5170.
▪ Easterlin Park, 1000 NW 38th St., Oakland Park; 954-357-5190.
▪ Fern Forest Nature Center, 201 Lyons Rd. South, Coconut Creek; 954-357-5198.
▪ Markham Park & Target Range, 16001 W State Rd. 84, Sunrise; 954-357-8868.
▪ Plantation Heritage Park, 1100 S Fig Tree Lane, Plantation; 954-357-5135.
▪ Reverend Samuel Delevoe Park, 2520 NW Sixth St., Fort Lauderdale; 954-357-8801.
▪ Snake Warrior’s Island Natural Area, 3600 SW 62nd Ave., Miramar; 954-357-8776.
▪ Tradewinds Park & Stables, 3600 W Sample Rd., Coconut Creek; 954-357-8870.
▪ Tree Tops Park, 3900 SW 100th Ave., Davie; 954-357-5130.
▪ Topeekeegee Yugnee Park (T.Y.), 3300 N Park Rd., Hollywood; 954-357-8811.
▪ Vista View Park, 4001 SW 142nd Ave., Davie; 954-357-8898.
▪ West Lake Park, 1200 Sheridan St., Hollywood; 954-357-5161.
Broward also has curbside recycling. Residents can place holiday trees curbside for pickup on scheduled yard waste collection days. Make sure to remove tree stands and all decorations and don’t bag the trees. Put the tree out before 7 a.m. on your yard waste collection day. No artificial trees in this collection. Put artificial trees separate for bulk pick up. You can also put the real trees in your green yard waste carts, cut to fit inside, much as you’d toss regular plant material.
Broward also offers free fresh mulch to its residents once the trees are all ground up.
This story was originally published December 30, 2020 at 10:22 AM.
