Sad as it may be, Christmas is over. You might be one who takes your time taking down your decorations, but when it comes to your tree, you probably don't want to wait too long. If you haven't been watering your tree, the risk of it catching fire increases dramatically as demonstrated by this video. Watch how quickly the dry tree catches fire compared to the watered one.

The sooner you take it down and get it out of your house the better. If you live in the city of Portland that can be a bit of a challenge. Luckily the city makes it easy.

All through the month of January, you can simply place your tree curbside with the rest of your trash on trash day and public works will collect it along with your regular trash. Ta da! All done!

If you want to get rid of your tree right now and don't mind transporting it, there are several locations in Portland where you can drop it off in January:

  • Cutter Street upper parking lot
  • Douglass Street salt shed area
  • The 9-hole south course at Riverside Golf Course on Riverside Street

Public Works will haul trees dropped of at these locations over to Riverside recycling to be chipped up and put to a new use.

If you live in Lewiston or Auburn, you can have Boy Scout Troop 121 pick it up curbside for you for small $5 donation. If you want to make a pickup request, send your donation to Troop 121, United Methodist Church, 439 Park Ave., Auburn, ME 04210. They'll  send you a tag to put on the tree at the curb. If you want more info, call 207-783-0790.

If you want to know where you can dispose of your Christmas tree in your town, contact your local town office.

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