Marion Residents: Get That Christmas Tree Out of Your Living Room

Is your Christmas tree still awkwardly hanging around your living room like an uninvited guest? It's shedding its pine needles all over your floor.

You want to get rid of it, but you might feel a hint of guilt at the thought of ditching a once living symbol of Christmas in a trash heap next to half-eaten Subway sandwiches and headless Barbie dolls.

There is a solution for both problems.

Marion has curbside pickup for Christmas trees, and for those of you that have the means, you can drop it off at the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency, at 1954 County Home Road in Marion. However, the fee for the drop off is $5.

Here's how you prepare your tree for curbside pickup:

• Remove ornaments, wires and decorations from the tree
• Do not place the tree in a plastic bag
• Remove any stand or other metal objects from the tree
• Cut the tree into 3 foot sections
• Residents of Marion get free pickup two weeks after the holidays

— From the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency

The picked up trees won't end up in a trash heap either, said Joe Horaney, communications director for the Cedar Rapids/Linn County Waste, Solid Waste Agency.

The trees are ground up for compost, which is available to Linn County residents in the spring. Each resident gets two cubic yards of compost, which Horaney said could fill the back of a pickup truck.

Also, if you got some top of the line electronics for Christmas, you can drop off your old electronics to the same location, for free.