Important Announcement to Residents Regarding Organic Yard Waste

1. Important Announcement to Residents Regarding Organic Yard Waste

2. Organic Yard Waste Why is the Town no longer collecting grass clippings? We are prohibited from accepting and processing all grass clippings due to a NYC Dept. of Environmental Protection directive. • What are the implications of this change? • Town personnel shall no longer collect grass clippings from residents that are placed curbside (neither loose nor in brown bags). • Gardeners who have a permit to dispose of organic waste at our transfer station will not be allowed to dispose of grass clippings at our site. • The Town of Harrison had to find an alternate method to dispose of grass clippings from Town owned property. I mow, leave it alone, then go play.

3. Organic Yard Waste Has this change impacted other services provided for the disposal of organic yard waste? No. We will continue to accept bagged leaves, bundled brush, and bulk leaves (in season). Fact: Without this change, the Town may have lost the ability to process all organic materials including brush and leaves. Fact: Mixing of grass clippings with acceptable organic materials or household garbage is prohibited. I mow, leave it alone, then go play.

4. Organic Yard Waste What is the Town’s alternate method of disposing grass clippings from Town owned property? The Town will not be disposing grass clippings. Town forces shall be mulch mowing all grass on Town properties and will not collect or transport this material to any site. Fact: The benefits of mulch mowing include creation of healthier soils in turf areas, reduction of organic pollutants entering reservoirs, streams and Long Island Sound, and reduction of the total volume of organic materials to be processed. I mow, leave it alone, then go play.

5. Organic Yard Waste As a resident how can I, or my landscaper, dispose of grass clippings? The Town is suggesting that all residents mulch mow their lawns. • Other options to consider should you choose: • Have the material collected by a private carter. • Landscapers have the means of finding a site, other then our Transfer Station, that may accept grass clippings. I mow, leave it alone, then go play.

6. Organic Yard Waste Grasscycling From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Grasscycling refers to leaving grassclippings on the lawn when mowing. The term is a portmanteau combining "grass" and "recycling", and had come into use by at least 1990 as part of the push to reduce the huge quantities of clippings going into landfills, up to half of some cities' summertime waste flow, as 1,000 square feet (93 m2) of lawn can produce 200 to 500 pounds (90 to 225 kg) of clippings a year. Because grass consists largely of water (80% or more, contains little lignin and has high nitrogen content, grass clippings easily break down and return to the soil within one to two weeks, acting primarily as a fertilizer supplement and, to a much smaller degree, a mulch. Grasscycling can provide 15 to 20% or more of a lawn's yearly nitrogen requirements. Proponents also note that grasscycling reduces the use of plastic bags for collecting yard waste and reduces trips to the curb or landfill to haul waste. I mow, leave it alone, then go play.