What To Do With Your Christmas Tree
Here is some helpful information about what to do with your Christmas Tree. While it may be tempting to leave your Christmas tree up a little longer, it could increase the chances of a fire incident. According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), nearly 30% of Christmas tree fires occur in January. That’s why most encourage Floridians to get rid of their tree quickly after the holidays. Trees can dry out very quickly in Florida and it is important that you don’t leave a dry tree in your home for a long time.
But what’s the best way to dispose of your tree? First, make sure all decorations, including tinsel, are removed from your tree. Then cut your tree into sections no larger than 4-feet long.
Real Christmas trees are biodegradable, and therefore can be chipped into mulch and reused for other purposes. Some municipalities have programs that repurpose trees into mulch. Many offer free curbside pickup and disposal.
How To Dispose Of A Fake Christmas Tree
Most artificial trees are made with polyvinyl chloride, and therefore cannot be recycled, so you’ll need to reach out to your local recycling center to see if there is any way they’ll accept it. You can always consider donating them to schools or local charities that can use it next year.
Many communities will offer curbside pickup of natural Christmas trees after the holidays. Trees will be collected at no additional charge during scheduled yard waste collection days.
Here Is What To Do In Each County
City of Tampa
Hernando County
Highland County
Lakeland
Manatee County
New Port Richey
Pinellas County
Polk County
Sarasota County
St. Petersburg
Other Ideas For Your Tree
- Cut it into firewood: Saw off the branches to use as kindling and cut the trunks into logs.
- Mulch it yourself: Consider chipping and shredding your tree and using the needles and branches as mulch in the garden
- Donate it to a farm where animals will eat the tree. It’s a yummy treat for some!
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5 New Things To Look Forward To In Tampa In 2024
It’s time to close the chapter to 2023 and look forward to the next year. Luckily for us in Tampa, there’s a lot to be excited about in 2024. Be on the lookout for these new businesses and experiences in Tampa Bay next year.
Champa Bay seems to be growing and expanding more and more each year. So many new places and experiences popped up in 2023, and it was hard to keep track. We discovered a bunch of new restaurants, hotels, and adventures that opened up this past year. 2024 might be even better! We get to look forward to new restaurants and bars, roller coasters, and so many big acts playing Tampa venues (just to name a few). With the help of Creative Loafing and That’s So Tampa, we made a list of 5 things to look forward to in Tampa in 2024
To help make this list, we got some of our inspiration from Creative Loafing. They told us 20 new restaurants to look out for in 2024. A couple of them made our list, but you can check out the full list here. But we wanted to expand more on things to get excited about in Tampa for next year.
2023 in review:
Tampa had a lot of growth in 2023, leaving us excited for what’s to come. This year we said “hello” to many new businesses and attractions including the tallest rooftop bar in Tampa, new restaurants with Michelin-star chefs, changes to our favorite theme park, and more. We also said “goodbye” to some of our favorite businesses and athletes who got traded to other teams (like Pat Maroon on the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ji-man Choi on the Rays).
Thinking of moving to Tampa in 2024?
One of the great things about Tampa is it’s constantly changing for the better. But that also means it’s becoming a really competitive market for those looking to move here. One thing we can count on with all of these new additions of 5-star restaurants and new affordable and luxury housing is that more people will surely be packing their things and heading to the Tampa Bay area. If you plan on making the move next year, check out some of our realistic advise before making the move.
Here are 5 new things to look forward to in Tampa for 2024
Launa is part of Tampa Bay's Hometown Morning Krewe on 99.5 WQYK. She has been with the station for 7 years and joined J.R. and Kevin on the morning show 4 years ago. Since then, they have been nominated for not only a CMA but also an ACM. Launa has been in radio for the past 28 years and in the Tampa Bay market for 22 of those years. While working in radio, Launa has also served as an entertainment reporter on a local TV show and has hosted many charity events in the community. Using her popularity from QYK, Launa loves to help raise money for shelter animals and has been a volunteer at local shelters for years. Launa loves the community and writes articles on local news, entertainment, and events and highlights people who are shining in Tampa Bay that she knows others like her would also be interested in reading.