With the holidays over for another year, Halton residents took advantage of a one-day, drive-thru used Christmas tree drop-off program supporting the environment.
Dozens of residents made the trek to Conservation Halton's administrative office on Britannia Road with their used and in some cases dried out Christmas trees to be repurposed to help with stream and waterway restoration projects this spring and summer that also protects against flooding.
This is the eighth year that Conservation Halton has offered the Christmas tree drop off as an alternative to their local waste curbside pickup, where trees are chipped or burned in a landfill. By mid-day close to 100 trees had been donated, with hope of surpassing the approximately 150 trees donated last year.
The trees are used to create sediment mats, which helps narrow creeks and streams that have been over-widened, as well as increase climate resiliency by capturing sediment as it is carried through the water.
The placement of trees also helps by creating essential habitat for birds, insects, amphibians, and to build a strong soil bed for native plants to take root.
The stream work runs from July to September with this year’s projects being Courtcliffe Park in Carlisle, Joe Sam’s Leisure Park in Watertown and along Bronte Creek in the Carlisle Conservation Area.
In Burlington, the Royal Botanical Gardens just concluded a similar Christmas tree collection program garnering approximately 2,000 used trees during its annual week-long event, over the years it has collected over 175,000 trees for its waterway and stream restoration projects, placing them along the banks of the Cherokee and Grindstone Creeks.