Composting an option for autumn leaf piles
While dead leaves covering your yard space can be an eyesore, the fallen tree remnants actually can breed new life into the green space.
Slippery Rock University placed compost collection bins around the borough about three years ago, and the Macoskey Center for Sustainability Education & Research composts the materials to create nutrient-rich soil for community gardens.
Sami Laurence, manager of the Macoskey Center, said the process of composting can be done by anyone.
“The best way to deal with them (is) you can actually just mulch them into your yard and lawn,” she said. “You are basically putting compost in your yard by mowing over it. If it's just a sprinkling of leaves, you can put them along your landscaping or bushes.”
Laurence points out that composting is a more sustainable use for leaves than trashing them, and burning them can release harmful greenhouse gases into the air. Some municipalities offer leaf collection service that differs from normal trash collection service.
Butler Township manager Tom Knights said the township offers leaf collection through its garbage contractor. There are four pickup days in the fall, and township residents can pack leaves into biodegradable bags and leave them out where they would normally leave their garbage for the two remaining dates, which are Saturday and Nov. 15. The township also has two leaf collection dates in April, and Knights said the contractor takes leaves to a composting site.
“There's no limit and really no complaints,” Knights said. “It's really a good service.”
The Macoskey Center makes use of leaves and other compost through the use of wind roves, which are used to churn and till the materials until it is the right consistency to use in soil.
Laurence said fruit and vegetable scraps and used coffee grounds are other common sources of compost, which people can separate from their trash to compost in batches.
“In the fall we get a lot of leaves, scraps from dining hall and produce scraps from community that drop them in compost bins,” Laurence said. “It can be as easy as creating a compost pile outside.”
Laurence said the Macoskey Center puts composted materials in its community gardens, which helps to grow better crops. She said people with heavy leaf coverage may consider creating a compost pile, while those with more scattered coverage may prefer mowing over their lawn to see the results in the spring.
Either way, nature will take its course, Laurence said.
“The forest goes through the process every fall; they are decomposing and creating better soil,” Laurence said. “Nature knows what it's doing, and we can get in the way of that process.”
