Yard Waste Recycling & Management

Practical Solution

The “How To”

While residents can adopt these practices on their own, local governments have the opportunity to develop more formal programs. Ultimately both groups are most productive when their efforts are coordinated.

Residents

Native landscaping is a beneficial practice that can partially or fully replace turf lawn, reducing the need for mowing and providing beneficial habitat for wildlife. For those with lawns, 'No Mow April' and 'Low Mow April' have been gaining popularity as local movements to reduce mowing of lawns during a critical time for pollinator habitats. For those who choose to grow turf lawns, the National Center for Appropriate Technology's Sustainable Agriculture Information Service program offers a guide for sustainable practices for turf lawns.

Local Governments

The main role for municipalities and local governments to play in sustainable yard maintenance and lawn waste management is to provide programming and services that encourages and/or facilitates such practices in your community. Native landscaping is the most optimal yard management strategy for wildlife, and several municipalities have adopted native landscaping ordinances (a full list is available in OneSTL's library of sustainability ordinances, under Native Landscaping Ordinances). Webster Groves, MO, hosts an annual No Mow April campaign to distribute signage and encourage residents to not mow their lawns through the month, allowing bees and other early season pollinators access to nutrient-rich wildflowers like violets and clover. Brentwood, MO, hosts a similar campaign for Low Mow April.

St. Peters, MO, has received multiple national awards and recognition for their Earth Centre program. When it reaches the Earth Centre, yard waste is processed into mulch or mixed with biosolids (byproducts of St. Peters' wastewater treatment process) and turned into Class A compost as part of the city's award-winning Organic Resources Recycling Program. The compost is sold back to the community at low resident rates to improve their lawns and gardens. Other communities in the St. Louis region also offer yard waste collection programs, and these services can also be found within the private sector.

Examples of services that counties/cities can offer include:

• Processing brush, grass clippings, leaves and other organic waste into mulch and compost
• Curbside yard waste collection
• Yard waste recycling and collection drop-off point
• Public information campaigns
• Sustainable landscape maintenance classes and training
• Selling and/or donating mulch, compost, and topsoil to the community (produced from collected yard waste)
• Wood chipping and collecting unwanted tree limbs and branches
• Managing community drop-spots after major storms or high-winds to collect downed tree limbs