CITIES CONDUCTING CHRISTMAS TREE RECYCLING PROGRAMS.

Byline: Daily News

Give the Earth a gift this holiday season and recycle your Christmas tree.

Simi Valley residents with curbside trash service may place their Christmas tree at the curb for collection in addition to their 90-gallon-per-week yard waste collection at no extra charge. Trees must be placed at the curb by 6 a.m. on the resident's trash collection day. Residents at multifamily complexes with centralized trash collection bins should contact the complex manager for disposal options.

Simi Valley Landfill and Recycling Center, 2801 Madera Road, will accept residents' trees at no charge through Jan. 4. The landfill is open 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays and 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Trees taller than 6 feet must be cut in half. All stands, steel reinforcement rods, tinsel, ornaments and lights must be removed to prevent damage to processing equipment. Trees will be ground into mulch, which may be used for ground cover.

For more information, call the Simi Valley Community Services Department at [phone].

Thousand Oaks residents can recycle their trees from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Jan. 3-12 at one of three designated drop-off locations. Trees also will be collected curbside Jan. 6-10 on the regularly scheduled trash collection day.

Developed as part of a regional effort to reduce the burden on local landfills, the city of Thousand Oaks - along with Conejo Valley Disposal, Block Disposal, Newbury Disposal and Valley Commercial Disposal - is co-sponsoring this year's ``treecycling'' program. Trees collected in the program will be hauled to the Calabasas Landfill and California Wood in Ventura where they will be chipped up and reused as mulch throughout the Conejo Valley.

For cut trees, residents are encouraged to remove all ornaments, tinsel, nails and stands. Place the tree in the container marked ``Christmas Tree Recycling.'' No flocked, painted or fireproof trees will be accepted.

The city's three designated drop-off locations are:

The Home Depot, 500 N. Ventu Park Road, Newbury Park.

Triunfo Community Park, 980 Aranmor Ave., Westlake Village.

California Lutheran University, Mount Clef Boulevard and Olsen Road, Thousand Oaks.

For more information call the Thousand Oaks Recycling Hotline at (805) 449-SAVE.

Christmas tree recycling is being offered from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the Agoura, Westlake Village and Oak Park areas by Boy Scout Troop 127 of Agoura. The troop will pick up Christmas trees and drop them off at a recycling location. To arrange for a pickup, call [phone] if you live in Agoura Hills, [phone] if you live in Westlake Village or Oak Park, and [phone] if you live in Calabasas. A donation of $5 is requested.