a green going-away

City of Houston opens 24 Christmas tree recycling locations for green disposal

Recycle that lovely tree at one of 24 City of Houston locations.

Photo by Cameron Stewart on Unsplash

Ah, the time-honored tradition of finding the Christmas tree. Whether it's a snowy fool's errand a la Clark Griswold or a bargain acquisition that would make The Old Man proud, securing that fine fir is a holiday rite of passage.

But what to do with that live tree after the holidays celebrations are over? Tradition dictates that revelers can leave their yuletide tree up though January 6, 2023. But afterwards, dumping it with the front-yard trash is unceremonious and disrespectful. Better to recycle holiday tree — especially at one of the city's tree recycling centers that are now open.

The City of Houston's Solid Waste Management Department has opened 24 residential tree drop-off recycling locations throughout the area. Locals can take their live trees to one of these centers across the city, where they will be repurposed for mulch or other landscape materials.

This tree recycling program is part of the City of Houston for the 33rd annual tree mulching event.

Before depositing the tree or trees, be sure to remove all lights, wire, tinsel, ornaments, nails, stands, and other non-organic decorative materials. Importantly, artificial, flocked, or painted trees will not be accepted. Residents have until January 26, 2024 to donate holiday trees.

Those who'd prefer to recycle their themselves can check out CultureMap news partner ABC13's handy guide to Christmas tree recycling.

Below is a list of Christmas tree recycling locations, also per ABC13 and the City of Houston.

Open daily 9 am to 6 pm

Memorial Park at the Softball Parking Lot: 6402 Arnot St.
T.C. Jester Park: 4200 T.C. Jester West
Ellington Airport Recycling: Hwy 3 & Brantley Road
Kingwood (Branch Library): Bens View Lane at Bens Branch Drive
Doss Park (gates close at 5 pm): 2500 Frick Rd.

Open Tuesday to Sunday from 9 am to 6 pm

Central Neighborhood Depository: 2240 Central St.
Kirkpatrick Neighborhood Depository: 5565 Kirkpatrick
Sommermeyer Neighborhood Depository: 14400 Sommermeyer
N. Main Neighborhood Depository: 9003 North Main
Southwest Neighborhood Depository: 10785 Southwest Freeway
Sunbeam Neighborhood Depository: 5100 Sunbeam

Open Monday - Saturday, 8 am to 5 pm; closed Monday, Jan. 15, 2024

Westpark Consumer Recycling Center: 5900 Westpark

Open Monday to Friday 7 am to 5 pm and Saturday 7 am to noon; closed Monday, January 1, 2024

Living Earth: 5802 Crawford Rd.
Living Earth: 1503 Industrial Drive, Missouri City
Living Earth: 1700 E Highway 90Alt, Richmond
Living Earth: 12202 Cutten Rd.
Living Earth: 16138 Highway 6, Iowa Colony
Living Earth: 5210 S. Sam Houston Parkway E.
Living Earth: 27733 Katy Freeway, Katy
Living Earth: 10310 Beaumont Highway
Living Earth: 17555 I-45 South, Conroe
Living Earth: 20611 U.S. 59, New Caney
Living Earth: 9306 FM 523 Freeport

holidays

4th of July Fun

Houston shines as a top city in Texas to celebrate 4th of July

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Houston is looking pretty patriotic this summer. H-Town has just been named the third-best city in Texas for celebrating the Fourth of July, and it lands among the top 50 in the nation for its Independence Day festivities in 2026.

Houston ranks No. 3 statewide and No. 47 nationally in WalletHub's annual report comparing the "Best & Worst Places for 4th of July Celebrations." WalletHub's experts annually ranks the 100 biggest U.S. cities across 18 metrics like affordability, the variety of celebrations on July 4th, weather favorability, safety, and more. Last year, Houston ranked 39th nationwide.

The three best cities in the U.S. for celebrating the Fourth of July in 2026 — marking the nation's monumental 250th birthday — are Las Vegas (No. 1), New York City (No. 2), and Orlando (No. 3).

Among individual categories, Houston is the 8th most affordable U.S. city to visit over the Fourth of July holiday, and it ranks 16th in the "attractions and activities" subcategory — based on a separate survey of the best and worst cities for recreation. Houston also ranked 37th overall for its abundance of July 4th celebrations. Local festivities in honor of America's 250th birthday will include spirited performances from Keith Urban and Collective Soul at the Freedom Over Texas festival.

Houston's predictably hot weather forecast for the holiday earns it a bottom-tier ranking at No. 92 overall, and the city's safety and accessibility comes in 95th place.

Elsewhere in Texas, Dallas and Fort Worth ranked as the top two best cities in the Lone Star State for celebrating America's founding, and ranked 39th and 42nd nationally. The remaining 10 Texas cities that appeared in the report ranked among the bottom 50.

This year's festivities are expected to be meteoric compared to previous years to commemorate the milestone anniversary, according to the report.

"This year, the National Retail Federation projects that U.S. households will spend a collective $9.4 billion on food for Fourth of July festivities alone," the report's author wrote.

Here's how the rest of Texas stacks up in the report:

No. 57 – El Paso
No. 63 – Lubbock
No. 74 – San Antonio
No. 80 – Arlington
No. 81 – Plano
No. 84 – Austin
No. 91 – Corpus Christi
No. 93 – Irving
No. 99 – Laredo
No. 100 – Garland

wallethub report houston holidays 4th of july