Christmas is a time of gifts, plenty of food, trees and holidays and all four of these have an impact upon waste collection in Cochrane.

"It's a very busy time at the eco-centre after Christmas," says Fabrizio Bertolo, Cochrane's waste and recycling manager. "There are lots of recyclables--lots of papers, lots of plastic, lots of containers--so we're expecting to have a large amount of waste generated, mostly recyclables and organics."

The excess waste shouldn't have much impact upon the amount ending up in your black bin, if properly sorted.

"For all the residents, the good news this year is we have the green carts for all the leftovers and scraps so please use it because it is a great way to divert waste from our landfill. We want to divert as much as possible and increase our composting and recycling."

Pickup Schedule Changes:

The pickup dates have been changed in some zones due to Christmas Day and New Year's Day.

Recycling and garbage collection in Zone 1 (Fireside, Riversong, River Heights and The Willows) will take place on Sat. Dec. 23 instead of Dec. 25 and Sat. Dec. 30 instead of Jan. 1.

Organics collection in Zone 5 (Downtown, East End, GlenEagles, Headlands, HWY 1A (Second & Third St W), McGonigle Heights, Riverview, Riverside Place) will take place on Sat. Dec. 23 instead of Dec. 25.

Tree Pickup:

Discarded Christmas trees will be collected for a two-week period from Jan. 2 to 15 and can be placed outside for pickup on the same day as black bins and green bins are emptied. Bertolo asks residents to place them one metre behind your bins and to make sure all decorations are removed.

Last year, thousands of trees were collected, he says. The trees are chipped and the material is reused.

2018 Schedules Being Delivered:

Starting on Mon. Dec. 18, the town will start delivering the 2018 pickup schedules and all households should receive one over the next couple of weeks.

It's a much simpler design than last year's full-blown calendar, he explains. It will be a sheet with a magnetic attached so it can be placed in a handy location, like your refrigerator.