A lot of people put a lot of thought and care into picking up their Christmas tree each year. Hugo Santoyo picks up hundreds every day – no debate or examination needed. During the first two weeks of January, Santoyo is among a dozen Recology workers tasked with collecting San Francisco’s Chr istmas trees plunked out on sidewalks and street corners following the holidays. “Someone has to do it and why not me?” Santoyo asked rhetorically as he maneuvered his garbage truck through the Richmond District Thursday. Santoyo has been on Recology’s post-holiday tree collection team for the last four years. Frankly, the work has a much more pleasant aroma than his usual gig. “I like to do Christmas trees because I love the smell of the Christmas trees,” Santoyo said. During the two-week program, Santoyo and his fellow tree team prowl the city streets looking for trees. They hit each street twice during the collection period. Santoyo can quickly spot a tree, even when it’s tucked between shrubs and parked cars. He hauls each one to his truck and tosses it in the back, lowering the loader to smash them in. It’s an unceremonious end to a tree that was lovingly chosen and only days before was covered with ornaments and lights — with presents stuck underneath. Not to mention, Christmas trees cost a lot of green these days. “Certain areas in the city you’re like, ‘Wow!” Santoyo said. “Lot of money.” Recology worker Hugo Santoyo collects discarded Christmas trees from the sidewalks of San Francisco’s Mission District. If there’s a downside to the job for Santoyo, it’s that a lot of people let their dogs pee on the trees while they’re laying on the sidewalk. Still Santoyo appreciates the assignment as a change of scenery from the usual garbage. Some days he picks up around three tons of trees. “It’s a workout also,” he said, hefting a tree into the truck. “I don’t got to go to the gym after this.” Recology asks customers to set their trees out on the curb with the green waste — but apparently a lot of people didn’t get the memo. “We get a lot of abandoned waste calls for Christmas trees on every corner of the city,” he said. During the first two weeks of January, Recology workers will pick up more than 500 tons of Christmas trees in San Francisco. They’re hauled back to the Recology yard, not far from where all the used wrapping paper and Amazon boxes end up. “We feed them into the compost facility along with food scraps and yard trimmings,” Recology spokesman Robert Reed said. “So they’re used to make compost.” Recology worker Hugo Santoyo collects discarded Christmas trees from the sidewalks of San Francisco’s Mission District. This year, workers were seeing a lot of trees set out on the curb later — probably because last week’s heavy rains inspired people to enjoy their trees a little longer. Customers have until Jan. 16 to get Recology to pick up their discarded trees. While Santoyo was busy cleaning up everyone else’s holiday trees, he doesn’t have to worry about someone cleaning up his own Tannenbaum at home. “This year we decided to go with an artificial tree,” he said. ...read more read less