Composting means Calgarians can have a green Christmas

Even though there's plenty of snow on the ground, the city's waste and recycling department is hoping Calgarians have a green Christmas.

Lots of presents and lots of food can mean lots of waste but not all of it has to end up in the city landfill.

This is the first year the city's composting program will bein place for the holidaysand a lot of the waste can be diverted there, says Phillippa Wagner, with the waste and recycling services department.

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For those who've opted to go the traditional route and put up a real Christmas tree it can be composted.

"Make sure you remove any decorations and lights," Wagnersaid. "Then you would cut up the tree into pieces and place it into your green cart."

Christmas trees can also be dropped off for free at one of Calgary's three landfillsor a number oflocations between Dec. 26 and Jan. 31, 2018, including:

• Bowness 7937 43rd Ave. N.W.
• Confederation Park East parking lot at 905 30th Ave. N.W.
• Prairie Winds Park North Parking Lot 54 at 223 Castleridge Blvd. N.E.
• Huntington Hills Athletic Park 7920 4th St. at Huntstrom Dr. N.E.
• Bottomlands Park St. George's Dr. and Seventh Ave. N.E.
• Marda Loop Communities Association 3130 16th St. S.W.
• Haysboro - 8800 block of Elbow Dr. S.W. (between Woodman Jr. High and St. Gerard's Church).
• Optimist Athletic Park - 5020 26th Ave. S.W.
• Woodlands Park - Woodpark Blvd. and 24th St. S.W. (access via parking lot off of Woodpark Blvd S.W.).
• Park 96 - 14660 Parkland Blvd. S.E.
• Pop Davies/Ogden Athletic Park - Ogden Rd.& Millican Rd.S.E.
• IKEA - North West corner of parking lot behind store 8000 11th St. S.E.
• Auburn Bay Off-Leash Area - 52nd St.and Auburn Bay Dr.S.E.

Composting through the green cart is also the best option for food waste from holiday meals.

The blue cart is the place for paper wrapping, paper bags and cardboard, saidConor Tapp with Green Calgary.

There's also options for wrapping paper that can be composted.

"You can buy craft paper at a craft shop or a hardware store that's compostable," said Tapp.

"Or you can buy just the plain paper that the kids can draw on and that way you can recycle it and not create as much waste."

Anyone with questions about where certain items of waste belong, can visit the city's What Goes Where website.

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