Log on for charity Christmas tree collections Mark Ford December 29, 2021 Latest News Wednesday 29 December – Somerset residents can log on now for a charity collection of their real Christmas tree. Several charities offer kerbside tree collections in return for a donation, making it an easy way to say goodbye your festive fir while raising money for good causes. These include: Dorothy House Hospice Care, covering the Frome and Shepton Mallet area. Collections must be booked before midnight on 3 January. St Margaret’s Hospice Care covering the Bridgwater, Taunton, Wellington and Yeovil areas. Collections must be booked before midnight on 10 January. Collections from both must be booked in advance online just-helping.org.uk/register-tree Collections may also be available from other local charities and groups, environmental schemes, zoos or farms needing trees as food or fun for animals. The greenest way to say goodbye to your real Christmas tree is to chip it and compost it at home if you can or use it to attract wildlife in your garden. If that is not possible, all 16 Somerset recycling sites will take decoration-free trees in the garden waste skip. They will be composted to produce the soil conditioner. Recycling sites are open their usual winter hours except New Year’s Day and are also the best place to take large loads of cardboard and paper gift wrap. Subscribers to the paid-for garden waste service can leave their tree next to their green bin for their first collection in 2022. To be collected, trees must be decoration-free and no taller than six feet tall with a trunk diameter of no more than six inches As usual, garden waste collections do not take place over the festive fortnight but are scheduled start again in the week beginning 10 January. Please remember that collection days change over the festive period to accommodate the public holidays. The revised schedule for recycling and rubbish is below. South Somerset and Taunton Deane residents will be able to check their days on the printed Recycle More collection day calendars. Everyone can check their collection days, for now and the rest of the year, using the My Collection Day feature on the somersetwaste.gov.uk website. Dates can be downloaded for printing or straight into the calendar on your laptop or mobile device. Usual collection day Revised collection day Tuesday 28 December Wednesday 29 December Wednesday 29 December Thursday 30 December Thursday 30 December Friday 31 December Friday 31 December Sunday 2 January Monday 3 January Tuesday 4 January Tuesday 4 January Wednesday 5 January Wednesday 5 January Thursday 6 January Thursday 6 January Friday 7 January Friday 7 January Saturday 8 January In the event of any disruption to collections at this busy time of year, rubbish collections will be prioritised. The most up to date information will be available on the on the SWP website somersetwaste.gov.uk via the home page. Residents must park responsibly so crews and trucks have the access they need to make all their collections. This is always important over the festive period, but even more so with more people working from home. If recycling crews cannot get through, fire engines will struggle and maybe other emergency services too. For lots of information on how to reduce, reuse and recycling this Christmas, visit the Somerset website somersetwaste.gov.uk/festive