Residents looking for ways to dispose of their once live Christmas trees have a number of options including some that cost a few dollars.

Regardless of where people take their trees, they must remove all the decorations and not place trees in plastic bags.

Stirling Landscaping and Nursery, 840 Mercer Road in Butler Township, has been accepting trees for many years, but is charging a fee for the first time this year, said owner Bob Stirling.

“This is the first year we're charging $3,” Stirling said.

The popularity of artificial trees, he suspects, is among the reasons why the number of trees dropped off at the nursery has been dwindling over the years.

“Last year we had 35 and we were lucky. The year before we had 50. It seems like fewer people are recycling or they're buying artificial trees,” Stirling said.

“People burn them in their backyards. Maybe they leave them out for the garbage man, too. I don't know.”

Decades ago, an area golf course used to cover its greens with old Christmas trees to protect them over the winter, he said.

Stirling said workers will turn the trees into mulch to place around live trees at the nursery. He said he doesn't sell the mulch because it is low quality.

“We mulch them with a chipper. We probably get a five gallon bucket out of one Christmas tree,” he said. “It's poor quality. We can't sell it.”

His tree-recycling business is called Back to Nature. Trees can be taken there through Jan. 31. He asks that people call the nursery before bringing their trees.

Residents of some municipalities can simply place their trees on their curbs for pick up by their garbage collection contractors.

Butler Township is one of those municipalities. Tom Knight, township manager, said Christmas tree collection is free to township residents through Jan. 31 and is included in the township's contract with Waste Management.

Cranberry Township also has free curbside collection for township residents. Trees will be picked up on regular garbage collection days during the first two weeks of January. Residents can place their trees outside with their garbage.

Seneca Landfill, 421 Hartmann Road, Evans City, will be accepting Christmas trees for a $5 fee.