Not So Fast: Belmont Sets Schedule For Disposing The Christmas Tree

Christmas has come and gone and soon – for some, very soon – the holiday spirit will begin to fade; the porch lights will be taken down, the cards removed from the mantel and the last of the leftover turkey and treats will be consumed.

Then, finally, residents will begin dismantling the great symbol of the Yuletide season: the tree. But before you begin unstringing those lights and taking down the ornaments, just know that Belmont's trash collector has its own schedule when it will take your tree from the curb. 

While some may want to begin the New Year with the holiday centerpiece out of the house, Russell Disposal announced that it will haul away your evergreen during the first two weeks in January beginning Monday, Jan. 6. (Just leave it with the other disposals.)

Interestingly, Jan. 6 is the feast of Epiphany. In the UK and other English-speaking countries, tradition has it that between Twelfth Night (Jan. 5) to Epiphany morning is the time to take down the Christmas tree and decorations and it's considered bad luck to keep them up after this date. In Colonial times, the Christmas wreath – trees were not common in New England until the 1840s – was taken down by Epiphany.