Fall Yard Waste Cleanup Days Are Here!
Fall is upon us, and that means leaf litter season! In the fall, dead leaves typically collect in roadways, and in moderate rainfall events can be washed into/on top of storm drains. These decaying organic materials are a major source of nitrogen and phosphorus in urban stormwater, contributing to excessive richness of nutrient issues downstream. The increase of nitrogen and phosphorus may cause harm to our water resources, such as potentially-toxic algae blooms. Proper use or disposal of yard waste will help to avoid these contaminated flows.
Bag It, Don’t Blow It!
Never blow leaves or grass clippings from your yard into streets, sidewalks or storm drains.
Street sweeping services are designed to handle natural leaf and debris removal on public streets. Leaves and grass clippings blown in the streets disrupt the efficiency of the street sweeping process.
Bag leaves and yard waste for the town’s curbside collection program.
Compost It, Don’t Blow It!
Fall leaves are an important ingredient to a compost pile. Without them, a compost pile may become too wet and create odors.
Layer compost piles with equal parts brown (dry leaves) to green (food waste/grass clippings) materials. It’s the mixture of the two, the carbon to nitrogen ratio, that activates hard working soil microbes.
Mulch It, Don’t Blow It!
Turn your yard waste into mulch and leave it on the ground. Yard waste acts as a natural fertilizer.
If additional fertilization is needed, choose a slow release fertilizer. Slow released fertilizers are more controlled, releasing nitrogen more slowly, reducing the change of nutrients leaching into groundwater in areas such as sandy soils.
Residential fall yard waste collections will take place on the following weeks as noted on the 2022 route collection schedule.
Yard waste includes grass clippings, leaves, weeds, shrub trimmings, and brush or limbs under 3" in diameter
Limbs under 3" in diameter must be tied in bundles, no greater than 3' in length, weighing no more than 40lbs
Yard waste may be placed in a 30 gallon 2-ply kraft paper bag
Yard waste may be placed in trash containers, no larger than 32 gallon, with handles. Containers must be labeled as Yard Waste to be collected
Bags and barrels may not exceed 40 lbs in weight for collection. Bags or barrels in excess of 40 lbs or too heavy to be lifted by one person will be left behind
Wet broken bags, due to the weather, are not the responsibility of the hauler to clean up. It is encouraged that residents cover bags during rain events to prevent broken bags
A Week Streets will be collected on their recycling collection day on the following weeks:
October 17-21
October 31-November 4
November 14-18
November 28-December 2
B Week Streets will be collected on their recycling collection day on the following weeks:
October 10-14
October 24-28
December 7-11
November 21-26 (holiday week)
