today we are at recology. they are celebrate 20 years of one of the most incredibly unique artist residency programs. we are here to learn more from one of the resident artists. welcome to the show, deborah. tell us how this program began 20 years ago. >> the program began 20 years ago. our founder was an environmentalist and an activist and an artist in the 1970's. she started these street sweeping campaigns in the city. she started with kids. they had an exhibition at city hall. city officials heard about her efforts and they invited her to this facility. we thought it would coincide with our efforts to get folks to recycle it is a great educational tool. since then we have had 95 professional artists come through. >> how has the program changed over the years? how has the program -- what can the public has an artist engage with? >> for the most part we worked with metal and wood, what you would expect from a program like ours. over the years, we tried to include artists and all types of mediums. conceptual

this year, recology of san francisco will put about 540 tons of trees through the wood chipper. >> weall know that children will go to school and learn how to recycle and come home and teach their parents. this fits into that, too, you know. >> reporter: you might think the discarded trees get composted or used as mulch but they wind up getting used for electricity. >> it's difficult to compost electricity. they have a pine pitch to them and have natural properties that resist composting. but they are very good as a biofeel. >> reporter: recology officials want to remind you to remove the tree stems before you throw them to the curb and also if your tree is more than 6 feet hall, chop it in -- tall, chop it in half. customers can leave their trees on the curb until january 16th. >> people will doing a really good job of composting. they are vegetable peeling and the coffee grounds. we have to take the stuff in the refrigerator around the mold yil bread or moldy strawberries in the bags, we have to separate those from the plastic and get those in the compost bin. >> reporter: if you bo

now.she's trying to contact recology in san mateo to help track down the books.ked out the last story after a viewer reached out to us. if you have a story idea you'd like us to look into -- go to our website, kron4-dot-com and click on the my kron4 story tab. to grab a visibility down a quarter mile. we're starting and mainly sunny as we go through the day monday calls will come a storm system will come up from the self. dishabille thin plots to start but will thicken during the day. are around 6:00 a.m. there could be a few light showers around hist hasan jose. for tomorrow morning, look for the upper 30's lower '40's. mostly sunny all the way through the end of january. this is video from yesterday as a storm caused havoc on roads in buffalo. the potentially historic snow storm is expected to hit new york city tomorrow night. the national weather service has upgraded its blizzard watch to a blizzard warning for the area from northern new jersey through southern connecticut, including new york city. the warning is in effect from 1 p-m monday through tuesday. ai

san francisco recology estimates there will be nearly 540 tons of christmas trees that get resickled. the trees are eventually trucked to tracy where they will be turned into biomass to generate electricity because their pine pitch makes the trees resistant to compost. we talk to a recology official this morning who said san francisco is the leader in all of north america when it comes to recycling. but we can still do better. >> they are doing a really good job of composting. they are -- there's coffee grinds and vegetable peeling. we have to take the other things in the refrick rater that we didn't get around from eating, we have to separate those from the plastic and get those in the compost bin. >> reporter: recology said leave your tree out on trash day. it will be picked up and brought here. make sure all of the tinsel and ornaments and stands are off. if your tree is more than 6 feet tall, you need to chop it in half. if you missed the deadline, you you you have to chop it up yourself. make sure you drag your tree out to the curb before it's too late. i'm tara moriarty, ktvu ch

this year recology of san francisco will put the trees through the wood chipper. >> children learn howrecycle. this fits into that too. >> reporter: you might this can the trees get composted but they wind up being used to make electricity. >> difficult to compost christmas trees. they just have natural properties that resist composting but they are good as a bio fuel. >> reporter: officials want to remind you taremove the -- to remove the steps and it is larger than six feet tall chop it in half. customers could leave the trees on the curve. san francisco leads north america when it comes to recycling but we could do better. >> people are doing a good job but we got to take the next step. the old spaghetti and moldy bread, moldy struberries -- strawberries we have to separate them and get them into the compost bin. >> reporter: if you bought a flocked tree, it will land up in the landfill, so next year a plain old christmas tree is the way to go. tara moriarty, ktvu channel 2 news. >>> explosion is caught on camera. it is so strong it knocks the camera man off his feet. >> he is okay.