What Do I Do With All The Leaves In My Yard? – The City of Loveland Has Ideas!

I know this is the weekend I will be raking leaves.  The weather is supposed to be nice and they are really starting to pile up, but what do I do with all of those leaves?  The City of Loveland Solid Waste Division has a few "environmentally-responsible" ideas.

Take leaves to the Recycling Center

Take leaves to the City’s Recycling Center, 400 N. Wilson Ave. The center is open 7:30 a.m.- 4:30 p.m. Tuesday-Sunday (closed Monday). There is no charge to city residents for leaf drop-off with a current, 2012 yard debris permit.

Get a Yard-waste cart

Arrange for the City’s weekly curbside yard waste collection service that runs through the end of November. The City will deliver a 95-gallon cart. It can be filled with leaves and other yard wastes (including old jack-o-lanterns) and wheeled to the curb for collection on the resident’s regular trash day.

Cost for curbside yard waste collection service is $7.50 per month. Cart customers who plan to use the cart again next spring may keep the carts during the winter months. There is no charge during that period.

In addition to leaves, grass clippings, garden trimmings, small branches and other organic yard waste can go into the cart. Dog droppings, rock, soil and other litter are not permitted. To request a cart, call 962-2529.

Mow leaves into mulch

Leaves can be mowed into mulch by spreading them out on the lawn and going back and forth a few times with the lawn mower. These finely chopped leaves act as mulch and help retain moisture. The ground up leaves decompose by spring.

What Not To Do

Sending leaves to the landfill is an expensive and non-environmentally-friendly way to dispose of them. If residents do choose to throw leaves out, trash stamps are required on every bag set out for refuse collection.

Raking or blowing leaves into the street or gutter is a municipal code violation and violators could be issued a citation and fine.

[City of Loveland]