Whether you grieve a little or you’re ready to move on when it comes down, if you have a real tree this year the needles are everywhere by now and you’ve got to decide how you are going to dispose of the tree. Thankfully, Austin has multiple eco-friendly options for recycling your tree. As long as you remove all of the decorations, your bare tree can be recycled for multiple purposes.
Donate Your Tree to Austin Zoo
Tiger Ramah loves to play with recycled Christmas trees! Image credit: Austin Zoo
Austin Zoo residents, would love to play with your tree! Between now and January 12th, your tree can be dropped off from 9:30-4:30 in marked locations to the left of the gift shop. Your tree will be cleaned and readied for the animals enjoyment.
Curbside Pick-up
If you have curbside pickup available in your neighborhood, then your tree can go to the curb! Set it out by 6:30am on your regular pickup day and the City of Austin will take care of it. Again, make sure it is free of lingering ornaments, lights and tinsel.
Zilker Park Drop-Off
No curbside pickup? No worries! You can drop off your tree- free of decorations, artificial snow, and stands- December 28th, 29th, January 4th or 5th between 10am and 2pm and it will be turned into mulch for later use. Free mulch will be available on a first come, first served basis on January 16th as early as 9am. You must come with your own means to pack, load and haul the mulch. Think of how happy your spring garden will be!
Consult this map for drop-off location:
Other Free Drop-Off Locations
It will take a little more effort on your part to get your tree to one of these locations, but hopefully one is convenient if the above options don’t work for you.
- TDS Landfill Creedmoor (512)-421-1363- 3016 FM 1327, Creedmoor, Texas, 78610
- TDS & Garden-Ville Bee Cave- 4001 RR 620 South, Bee Cave, Texas, 78738
- Travis County West Service Center- 4501 FM 620 Austin, TX 78732
- Whittlesey Landscape Solutions (512) 385-0732- 629 Dalton Lane, Austin, Texas 78742
- Del Valle Softball Complex (512) 854-7275- 3614 FM 973 Del Valle, Texas 78617