MURRAY — Kent Brinker's cats will have to find a new place to snooze now that the Christmas tree is gone.
Turns out they liked having it around almost as much as Brinker did.
"I like to get as much as I can out of it," he said. "I loved coming in the house and smelling it, and, well, it's tradition. It's a special time of year."
Brinker was one of dozens of people who drove to Murray Park on Saturday to drop off their trees. Before throwing the dried-up evergreen onto the pile, he checked it to be sure all the ornaments had been removed.
City officials will grind the trees into mulch to be used on the pathways at the park, as well as in other places. Excess mulch is made available to residents who might want it for their own landscaping. Landfills also provide it to residents when all the mulching is done in March.
The idea of recycling old trees makes Tharoll and Merna Hinckley feel better about their pre-Christmas purchase, instead of tossing it into the trash when they're done. They were warned to avoid cramming the Dumpsters at their apartment building too full with old trees.
"I put it up early, and by this time, I'm concerned about it being a fire hazard," Merna Hinckley said. She hasn't decided if she'll opt for a live tree again next year, saying artificial ones are "just easier to decorate." "You can leave the lights on and not have to worry about it," Tharoll Hinckley said.
Several cities in Salt Lake County are utilizing curbside pickup for old trees, with sanitation crews picking them up on regularly scheduled garbage collection days Jan. 4-31, as long as the trees aren't flocked, bound with twine or still decorated.
Cities not utilizing regular pickup schedules have named specified dates and locations for people to drop off their trees. Specific city information for drop-off or collection includes:
Alta — West side of green recycling bins throughout the city until Jan. 10.
Bluffdale — Trans-Jordan Landfill, 10873 S. 7200 West.
Draper — Public Works Department, 4501 S. Minute Man Drive, through Jan. 15.
Midvale — Regular garbage days through Jan. 8.
Murray — Main parking lot at Murray Park, 5100 S. State, through Jan. 31.
Riverton — Rodeo grounds, 12800 S. 1300 West; Centennial Park, 13000 S. 2700 West; or Monarch Park, 4800 W. 13600 South.
Salt Lake City — Scheduled tree collection at 7 a.m. on regular garbage day, per designated area: Area 1 (south of 1300 South, east of State Street) Jan. 4-8; Area 2 (north of 1300 South, east of State Street) Jan. 8-13; Area 3 (west of State Street) Jan. 14-20.
Sandy — Designated Dumpsters placed at Storm Mountain Park, 11400 S. 1100 East; Bell Canyon Park, 11400 S. 1700 East; Flat Iron Mesa Park, 8600 S. 1700 East; Highpoint Park, 7800 S. 1000 East; Crescent Park, 11000 S. 230 East; Buttercup Park, 10075 S. 1550 East; parks maintenance shop, 9120 S. 700 East.
South Jordan — 6 a.m. curbside on Jan. 4, 5, 11 and 12.
West Jordan — Regular garbage collection days until Jan. 8.
West Valley City — West Valley Park, 3500 S. 4505 West, or Westview Park, 4100 S. 6055 West, until Jan. 19.
Otherwise, city sanitation crews will pick up trees at the curb with scheduled garbage pickups until Jan. 31. More information can be found online at www.recycle.slco.org.
e-mail: wleonard@desnews.com