Philadelphia’s Streets Department began collecting fall leaves from the city’s curbs Monday.
The annual collection service will last six weeks.
But there are regulations to follow to ensure the leaves are picked up on the designated days for each neighborhood.
Rake ‘em, don’t bag ‘em!
The streets department will only collect leaves that are neatly raked to the curb or in biodegradable paper bags. This reduces contamination so the leaves can be recycled. Additionally, residents are urged to avoid mixing trash into the bagged leaves since they won’t be usable.
The city carefully selected areas that receive a significant amount of leaf buildup. People who wish to recycle or remove their leaves, but are not in an area selected for the collection program, can head to any one of four sanitation centers to drop off their bagged leaves or one of 22 locations spread out throughout the city on Saturdays starting Nov. 10 (excluding the Saturday following Veterans Day and Thanksgiving) until Dec. 13.
Leaves can be reused for composting, although Philadelphia will not be hosting any composting workshops this fall. Philadelphia will publish updates on their plans with autumn’s leaf recycling program as they continue to collect the foliage.
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Pro tip:
Composting leaves is not easy since they are highly acidic. It's hard to know how leaves will react while they decompose. It's easier for the streets department to collect the leaves for recycling than try to re-purpose the leaves at home.
