Several Boy Scout troops will cover the Issaquah Highlands and Sammamish areas on Jan. 5, 2019, to recycle Christmas trees after the holiday season as part of the 34th annual Scout Tree Drive event.

According to longtime Scout Tree Drive volunteer Michael Pacholec, the annual event began in 1985 and has remained an annual tradition for boy scout troops ever since. Six boy scout troops get together and split their coverage area to collect trees and donations.

The troops 500, 509, 571, and 751 from Sammamish will be joined by troops 596 from Redmond and 636 from Issaquah for the tree drive.

The trees are collected in the early morning and taken to Cedar Grove and to All Wood Recycling where the trees then are recycled. Recycling trees keeps organic waste out of landfills and allows the resources to be reused in other ways.

Donations are accepted with the trees, Pacholec said, as the tree drive is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the scouts. Every dollar goes to the boy scout groups to fund summer camp attendance and camping equipment.

Because it’s one of the biggest events of the year, more than 200 scouts participate in the pick up and recycling.

Donations should be attached to the bottom of the trees with a rubber band, preferably in a Ziploc bag to protect from weather Pacholec said. Trees must be out on the curb by 8 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 5.

For more information on the tree drive and how to donate, go online to scouttreedrive.org.

Scouts unload trees off of the back of a truck to be lined up for the recycling process. Courtesy photo

Scouts move trees into an organized line so they can be quickly and efficiently moved through the chipping process. Courtesy Photo