Christmas tree clean-up helps fund school computers

By Dale Woodard - Lethbridge Herald on January 18, 2022.

Herald photo by Dale Woodard Alyssa Andreachuk and Danica Martin unload a Christmas tree as Senator Buchanan Grade 4 teacher Joel Stretch looks on at Saturday's Christmas tree pickup at Nicholas Sheran Arena.

It looked a lot like Christmas Saturday morning at Nicholas Sheran Arena.
Of course, with it being mid-January it was actually looking a lot like Christmas in reverse as parents, teachers and students at Senator Buchanan Elementary School took part in this year’s Christmas tree pickup.
For the past 28 years, the City of Lethbridge has partnered annually with a local youth group to ensure that Christmas trees continue to give after the holiday season.
Since the program began, more than 80,000 Christmas trees have been diverted from the landfill and turned into environmentally-friendly mulch.
For the second straight year, Senator Buchanan Elementary School was selected to do the collection with family and volunteers to support their fundraising activities.
At the west side drop off at Nicholas Sheran Arena, Senator Buchanan Elementary School Grade 4 teacher Joel Stretch was already hard at work on the windy morning, helping haul the trees off the back of trucks and stacking them up before they were taken away.
The program is offered as a fundraising activity for local youth groups and is facilitated and supported by the City of Lethbridge.
“The staff and volunteers are out there getting Christmas trees around the city. We have drop-offs on the west side, south side and north side,” said Stretch, adding that money for Senator Buchanan Elementary School is already earmarked. “It’s good news for us because it’s a fundraiser for our school, we get $10,000 for cleaning up the trees this year.
“We’re very lucky we got to do it last year and we bought a bunch of laptops for the kids and we’re doing that again. We replaced about half of them, now we’re going to get the other half.”
The program allows residents to choose to reduce waste and support local youth.
For pickup Saturday, Christmas trees simply needed to be visible, stripped of all decorations and out by 7 a.m.
“We have lots of volunteers, I’m guessing around 40 or 50,” said Stretch. “We have most of our staff and community members from our school as well and some of the staff’s families. We’ll drive down every block in town and pick up all the trees.”
The mulch is available at no charge on a first-come basis when supply is available at Peenaquim Park in the parking lot adjacent to the dog park and is a useful addition to planting beds to reduce the need for watering and weeding.
The Christmas trees can also be composted at the Waste and Recycling Centre any time of the year.
Residents can take advantage of the free Saturday program – free disposal for the first 250 kg every Saturday – to avoid tipping fees at the landfill.
“They get recycled instead of going to the landfill,” said Stretch. “They get chipped down and used for mulch. It’s nice to have them recycled instead of thrown out.”
Last year, the Senator Buchanan Elementary School contingent collected about 1,500 trees, said Stretch.
“It was really good. For one day of work to get a donation for our school was pretty significant for us.”
For more information on waste and recycling services in Lethbridge, call Lethbridge 311 or visit http://www.lethbridge/wrs.

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