Yard Waste Removal: Recycling, Donating and Reusing
One of the best things that we can do to help the planet is to reduce our waste, reuse items, and recycle things that would otherwise be destined for the trash.
The amount of litter piling up on our planet truly is staggering, but each of us can do our part to reduce it without a whole lot of extra effort. Particularly important for doing this in the United States is to recycle plastics and metals and to compost yard waste and food scraps. As we do this, we can reduce the trash we add to landfills each year.
Recycling Yard Waste
If you have a yard at home, recycling yard waste is a must. You can do much of this yourself, or you can hire a company that recycles branches and leaves instead of just throwing them away. Understanding the benefits of recycling yard waste makes it clear why it is so important. And recycled yard waste is not only good for the environment, but it also makes great natural fertilizer for your yard.
Why Is it Important to Recycle Yard Waste?
Recycling yard waste is vital because of the benefits recycling provides to the environment. When yard waste is recycled in a compost pile, aerobic bacteria (bacteria that require oxygen for their survival) work with other microorganisms to break down the yard waste into components that will improve the soil, providing needed nutrients to a wide variety of plants and helping to conserve water through better moisture retention. On the other hand, when yard waste is not recycled but is instead taken to a landfill, anaerobic bacteria (which do not need oxygen to survive) break down the yard waste and produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas 20 times stronger than carbon dioxide. Methane is already the second most abundantly produced greenhouse gas in the United States, and landfills are the third-highest methane producers in the country after fossil fuel-based power plants and agriculture. If U.S. citizens would recycle all of their yard waste, we would keep more than 33 million pounds of garbage out of landfills each year. This would dramatically cut down on the amount of greenhouse gases produced on an annual basis.
How to Recycle Yard Waste
Environmentally conscious yard cleanup services will have programs to recycle the yard waste that they collect in order to keep it out of landfills. Furthermore, many cities and towns now include yard recycling services in their garbage collection services. Seattle, WA, Cedar Rapids, IA, Alexandria, VA, and Cary, NC, are just some of the municipalities that now offer yard waste recycling as a component of their curbside garbage collection. If your city or town does not offer curbside yard waste recycling, then you can hire a private company or take it to a local recycling center. Even if your city does not have a regular recycling program, you can likely dispose of Christmas tree waste through your curbside trash pickup program.
Whatever yard waste recycling option you choose, it is vital that you understand their policies before you load up your yard waste for dropoff and recycling. Most recycling services will tell you not to include rocks and soil in your yard debris and waste because these things can cause injury when placed into recycling machines. Recycling services also commonly put limitations on the sizes of branches that can be recycled. Many communities and services ask you to put your yard waste into brown paper bags for collection, and while some of these services provide or sell these bags, others ask you to purchase them at a local garden retail center.
Note also that even if you recycle your yard waste at home, there are things that you still might want to send to the community collection or to a yard waste service. Weeds, for example, should be recycled via a community recycling program, since most home composting systems do not achieve temperatures high enough to kill their seeds. Invasive plants, harmful plants such as poison ivy, and diseased plants should be placed in the regular trash that goes to the landfill so that you do not spread problems in your yard by recycling such things at home.
How to Compost Yard Waste at Home
Dedicated home landscapers and gardeners, as well as those who do not have a yard recycling option in their local community, may want to consider recycling and composting their yard waste on site at their homes. This allows you to keep the nutrient-rich compost for your own plants. To compost your own yard waste, you will want a pile that includes a good mix of both brown (carbon-rich) materials and green (nitrogen-rich) materials. Shred or chop up large pieces such as tree branches before including them in your pile, and if you get a lot of rain, cover your compost pile with a tarp. After all, your pile needs moisture, but it should not get soaked regularly. Also, turn the mixture in your pile every couple of weeks in order to keep it well distributed and composting evenly.
Several options are available if you want to keep your compost contained and not as a large pile. Commercially available compost bins can keep your compost in one place, but you can also build bin systems yourself out of lumber. Other containers you can purchase include cylinders that can be turned with a hand crank. However, these compost bins can be hard to maneuver if the compost gets too wet. The most important thing is not the system or container you use but how you build your pile and alternate the green and brown layers. Your local recycling service can offer tips on how to best compost your yard waste, and there are also many resources available online to give you guidance.
What to Put in the Green Bin
When it comes to recycling your yard waste, not everything can be put in the yard waste recycling container that is picked up by your garbage service. Only clean, green materials can be processed and turned into mulch. That means you should not include soil, waste from food, ash, or your old hoses or pots. There are also some green plants that should not be included. Here is a quick guide to what you can and cannot include in your green waste recycling:
Yes
Leaves
Smaller branches
Ivy
Grass clippings (though if you leave these on the lawn, it is OK)
Flowers
Plants (except for what is listed below)
No
Agave
Animal feces and other waste
Bamboo
Cactus
Dirt
Fibrous plants
Food (you can compost this at home)
Palm fronds
Pampas grass
Plastic bags or plastic pots
Poison oak
Rocks
Thistle
Treated wood
Yucca
Inorganic materials
Commonly Found Recyclable Items
It does not take too long to find items around the house that can be recycled. Just look around and you will probably locate one or more of these recyclable items that can be easily overlooked.
Batteries
The batteries you use every day contain chemicals that pollute the soil and water when they are added to landfills. Many places will accept household batteries for recycling so that their chemicals stay out of the ground and water. Your local library or post office will often accept batteries for this purpose.
Books
Have any books that you do not read anymore? You can recycle these by donating them or even by selling them online. Books that have been destroyed can often be recycled along with newspaper and magazines.
Cardboard
Like other paper-based products, cardboard is also recyclable. Put your cardboard boxes and other paper packaging in your paper recycling bin. Non-treated cardboard can also be used in your compost bin.
CFL Bulbs
CFL (compact fluorescent lamp) bulbs use less electricity than standard incandescent bulbs, so they are favorites for saving energy. However, these bulbs contain mercury, which is an environmental toxin. These bulbs should not be added to the trash but should be taken to a hazardous waste facility. Home improvement and hardware stores also frequently accept these bulbs for recycling.
Disposable Cups and Plates
Don't forget to recycle your plastic and paper cups and plates. Place these things in your recycle bins with your other recyclable waste. You can also mulch and compost most paper plates.
DVD and CD Cases
Have some old DVD and CD cases? Put these in your recycling bins as well. There are also centers that will accept these if your home curbside recycling program does not accept them. Stores such as Best Buy will also accept these cases, and even some other forms of electronic waste, for recycling.
Junk Mail and Old Cards
If you are like most people, you probably get a ton of junk mail every month. You may also have old greeting cards around the house. Most of these things can be recycled (including envelopes with plastic windows). Drop such things in a small recycling bin near your door, and you will both eliminate clutter and help the environment. Some schools and churches have recycling bins for paper near their entrances, and these organizations sell the paper, which helps them raise money for needed programs.
Ink Cartridges
The remaining ink and other components found in printer and copier ink cartridges are not good for the environment. You can recycle these at most office supply stores, which feature collection bins for these items.
Power Cords
Electronic devices should never be simply thrown away, and this includes power cords. Take these to recycling centers that accept them in order to avoid adding dangerous substances to the environment.
Shredded Paper
Paper from your home shredder can also be recycled or composted. Put your shredded paper in a paper bag in your paper recycling bin to keep it contained. Shredded paper can be added to compost bins as a "brown," but it also works particularly well with worm composting systems (vermicomposting).
Television Sets
Since American households have an average of three television sets each, chances are good that you have or will have a TV that will need to be disposed of. These TVs, and other electronic waste, should not be thrown away in the normal trash because they have harmful chemicals, including heavy metals such as lead. These old TVs can be recycled as well. Electronics stores often have recycling programs for old TVs. Be careful, however, to avoid shady pop-up recyclers who will collect old TVs in the back of their trucks. Frequently, these TVs are sold to other countries who do not recycle them according to environmentally sound guidelines.
Home Composting
You can build your own compost pile at home in order to help the environment. In a home compost pile, you can recycle not only yard waste but also food scraps and other kitchen leftovers. Building a compost pile is not difficult, but there are some basic guidelines to follow.
Composting Basics
Your compost pile will need three basic categories of ingredients:
Greens: These are nitrogen-rich ingredients. Greens include such things as grass clippings, fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds and filters, egg shells, houseplants, green leaves, and tea bags.
Browns: These are carbon-rich ingredients. Browns include such things as dead twigs, branches,sawdust, wood chips, cotton and wool rags, lint from your dryer, fireplace ash, cardboard, fur, hair, newspaper, and other paper products.
Water: Too much water or too little water and your compost pile will not work properly.
For best results, your compost pile should have an equal mix of browns and greens. Layer the browns and greens, and make sure you alternate sizes of items as well. Periodically turn the pile to accelerate the process. Note that if you do not hire a service for leaf removal near me, leaves can be used as greens until they turn brown and dry out.
When you compost, make sure not to include pet waste, diseased plants, insect-ridden plants, oils or fats, coal or charcoal ash, meat scraps or bones, yard clippings treated by pesticides, black walnut tree flowers or twigs, dairy products, or lard. These things can attract pests or add harmful bacteria or chemicals to your compost pile.
Benefits of Composting
There are several benefits that attend composting. Some of the major ones include:
Soil enrichment
Reduced need for artificial, chemical fertilizers
Reduction of methane emissions
Lowering your carbon footprint
Soil moisture retention
Production of good bacteria
Production of good fungi
Suppression of plant pests and plant diseases
Composting at Home
Composting at home is easy and requires only a few items, such as a shovel and a hose with a spray head. A pitchfork and machete can also be useful.
Find a dry spot with plenty of shade that is near a source of water.
Add browns and greens in alternating layers, with large pieces chopped up or shredded.
Dampen dry materials when you add them.
After your pile is established, bury fruit and vegetable scraps under 10 inches of the pile in order to keep rodents and other pests away.
You can cover your pile with a tarp to keep it moist, but this is not required.
Many people think that they cannot compost at home if they do not have space outside for a pile. However, there are indoor compost containers available at your local hardware store in order to make it possible to compost things inside. You will have to tend your pile and know what you have put in there, and if it is done properly, your compost will not attract pests or smell.
Compost from a backyard compost pile will be ready in between two months and two years. An indoor compost pile will produce compost in two to five weeks.
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
For more guidance on reducing, reusing, and recycling, please visit these sites:
Why Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle?
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Alternatives for Waste Management
