Once you've taken down the decorations and vacuumed up the dry needles from your living room floor, what do you do with the old Christmas tree?
You can tree-cycle it, thanks to KidSport and the City of Port Alberni.
A tree recycling depot will be opened up in the parking lot behind the Echo Centre in Port Alberni on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. People can bring their real Christmas trees to the lot, where they will be chipped and mulched. The chipped material is then used in the City of Port Alberni's parks department composting program. It's an environmentally friendly way to re-use Christmas trees.
Drop-offs are by donation. Proceeds will to go toward KidSport Port Alberni, which helps pay registration fees for youth unable to afford the cost of organized sports in the Alberni Valley. All funds raised by KidSport Port Alberni stay in the community to get local kids off the sidelines and into a season of sport.
In 2024, volunteers at the tree-cycling event collected 129 trees and raised more than $1,400 for KidSport. In total, KidSport Port Alberni granted $26,191 to kids over the last year and helped 125 kids gain access to sport.
For more information about KidSport, or to make a donation, visit www.kidsportcanada.ca.
The tree-cycling depot will be open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the parking lot behind Echo Centre at 4255 Wallace St. (access is from 10th Avenue).
