Chapel Hill Review

Town of Hillsborough issued the following announcement on Jan. 20.

If you want your loose leaves collected by the town, you’ll want to rake them to the street soon.

The Town of Hillsborough’s seasonal collection of loose leaves will end Tuesday, Jan. 31 and resume in November. Leaves placed at the curb by Jan. 31 will be collected for all routes regardless of the route’s regular service day.

Here are a few reminders for the final weeks of loose leaf collection:

• Place loose leaves within 4 feet of the curb for collection.
• Keep leaf piles free of limbs and debris, which clog the truck’s vacuum.
• Keep piles from blocking water meters, sidewalks or fire hydrants or from interfering with traffic or water drainage.
• Keep piles off streets, especially those with curbs and gutters because of storm drains.

For more information, view the Yard Waste Collection page on the town’s website and the Loose Leaf Collection video.

Bagged collection and alternatives

For collection during the months of February-October, leaves must be placed in biodegradable bags. Pickup is on garbage collection days, and households are limited to collection of 10 bags per week. Bags should follow the guidelines above regarding placement and should be free of trash and other debris.

Additionally, you can consider leaving your leaves in place or composting or mulching them. Composting or mulching leaves allows the nutrients to be recycled into the soil and is environmentally better for soil enrichment than processed fertilizer. See the document below and the video Leave the Leaves.

Original source can be found here.