Free Yard Waste Disposal Ends in 2011

yep, first it was the containers, then it was rotating days, next comes the limited big item pickup, now you'll pay for big item pickup. I haven't even mentioned the fees that have gone up.
I'm assuming they thought screwing us long and slow is better than just hammering us all at once.

The future yard waste disposal fee applies to all Lucas County residents, not just City of Toledo folks.

Here in Holland we have had restrictions on "household" waste disposal for better than forty years. Three garbage bags per pick up. The bags are supplied by the Village free to residents. If you absolutely have to have more than three bags out the resident can "buy" stickers for extra bags at $1.00 each. Curbside unlimited is once a year. Unlimited hoppers are offered 5 times a year. Brush is collected on as as needed basis, usuallly after severe storms. Yard waste/grass is NOT picked up. Leaves are collected curbside.

Never could figure out why the City of Toledo couldn't get a handle on trash pickup. Or why the residents of the City couldn't discipline themselves to recycle and reduce the tonnage sent to the landfills. Spoiled perhaps?

I have a good size yard with lots of tree, flower beds and grass -- it produces a huge amount of organic waste.

I've been hauling it all over the Clean Wood for the last few years. Every weekend, sometime twice I head on over and dump by grass clippings and branches.

I'm not sure what to do now. I don't want to just throw it all away and I don't think I can compost that much on a weekly basis. I guess we’ll see a bunch of new composting threads come spring.

I have mixed feelings on this, especially given my own composting efforts: I faithfully recycle grass clippings, leaves, sticks, and all other plant matter, and I have contributed almost no yard waste to the municipal trash stream over the past five years. However, if I had to pick one category of waste that I would like to see in a landfill, organic waste would actually be better for the environment (yes, I know organic waste is bulky and creates space issues, but grass clippings and branches are a helluva lot greener than old cans of lead-based paint and fluorescent bulbs).

On a related note: I suspect that the automated collection containers in Toledo will lead to an increase in municipal waste, since individual refuse collectors are no longer keeping an eye on what is being thrown away. There used to be weight limits on trash cans, but now you could conceivably stuff the can with cinder blocks and bowling balls without any city employee ever complaining.

How about starting a compost pile. It really works and there is a minumum of work involved. Cheap fencing, posts and a turnover shovel...

I unfortunately produce more yard waste than I can compost, and if I could, I'd produce more compost than I could use.

I was a farm dweller for 25 years and composted dump truck sized loads of farm waste and horse manure. Now I'm just a homeowner and have no desire to deal with it in that way anymore.

It'll still be worth it for a fee... I hope.

sorry, but with a smaller yard, the smell from a compost pile is a little overwhelming sometimes.

sorry, but with a smaller yard, the smell from a compost pile is a little overwhelming sometimes.

Let me see if I have this straight: Before, we could drop off yard waste without charge, proving only that we were Lucas County residents. And then if you wanted to have the products that came from the yard waste, you'd have to pay. So the operation they were running is only rationally expected to support itself.

But NOW, you have to pay fees coming and going.

I've predicted before that our local government (loaded up as it is with slothful unionized labor with huge benefits packages) will try to tax and fee us to death. And this just proves it.

Spoiled perhaps?

Exactly.

hockeyfan - A properly maintained "compost" pile does not smell. Ever.

GZ - You don't have to participate or pay at all. Compost your stuff yourself. If you need more mulch or compost than what you can produce you can participate in the free market and buy it at any garden center. You have choices. You don't really have a beef here.

Did you really expect the yard waste recyclers to handle your yard waste and give it back to you for free?

I hate to say this, but I bet we'll see a lot of midnight dumping in the ditches...

SensorG - May I gently suggest a mulching mower. With a mulching mower you never have any grass clippings to dispose of.

We compost and there's no smell.

Question. Does this mean the fall leaf clean up (when we rake everything into the streets) will no longer happen? Or is it just bagged yard waste? A little confused on that.

spoiled?!?!?!

let me see if i get this right. i paid a certain level of taxes and i got a certain level of pickup service.

now, my taxes (or fees....wink, wink) are higher and the services have been reduced.

i think there's a legit reason to complain.
is that being spoiled?

toledolen - Bagged yard waste, branches, that kind of stuff. You'll still have curbside leaf pickup, such as it is, in the City.

I both compost and I take stuff to Cleanwood. I can't compost all my yard waste either, so, I'll be paying for disposal. If the fee isn't outrageous I wont get my shorts in a bunch. It's a tough economy in Lucas County. There are governmental budget shortfalls from coast to coast. No different here.

What I think will happen is that people will start stuffing their yard waste in their garbage cans a little at a time to avoid detection. Lucas County might want to reconsider instituting a fee on that basis. They'll lose by having to haul and bury more tonnage in the landfalls. Myself, I'm thinking of buying a chipper shredder. Grind that stuff up and it composts really fast and reduces the volume right from the git-go. Avoid Cleanwood all together.

I would expect that all the small-time, self-employed tree-trimmers and yard care guys that work for cheaper than you'd pay a big company will have to raise their rates, too.

Where do you think they were taking all the stuff they collected from people's yards?

"Yard waste from rental and commercial properties, haulers, landscape and lawn care companies are assessed a fee."

Supposedly, those guys are already paying. The above is from the County's website on yard waste disposal.

http://www.co.lucas.oh.us/index.aspx?NID=453

Not the small-time guys, though they are supposed to. I know because when I worked in property management, those were the kinds of guys I was asked to hire.

Thanks, Holland.

I guess I don't really see the outrage then. I live in the OWE and have a HUGE yard on one side of my house that is on the corner. My yard has several (maybe 5 or 6?) trees that are taller than my home (2 stories, but really 3 with our full walk-up attic). Sure, we have branches that fall down from time to time... and general yard waste... but I just put everything in a pile and use in my outdoor chimney/pit after they've dried out. Or things get put into the compost. The grass gets mowed into the yard (see: mulching mower). We had a company come out and remove some trees when we first bought the house... they just took everything except for some wood for our fire (which was nice of them). Been here over 3 years and never even knew there was a "yard waste disposal" program. The thought never even occurred to me.

And really, isn't this just the kind of "smaller government" some people have been asking for?

Consider this jmleong. If all the small operators had been operating legally and paying as they should, perhaps the County wouldn't have to institute a fee.

That's a thought, Holland, but I'm sure a fee was inevitable regardless.

It's not the yard waste fee, alone, that has me a little annoyed -- annoyed, not outraged -- it's the cumulative total of higher fees and reduced services across the board that's done it.

jmleong - Remember Govt ask you to do more with less, but don't you dare ask them to do the same.

toledolen, i think THOSE people would expect to pay lower taxes for the reduction in services

So... let's get this straight. We are currently paying a fee to Lucas County for this service but the service is ending and we will continue to pay a fee for it?

Len you must be forgetting that our garbage bill went up 3 fold!

Isn't that handled by the City of Toledo?

toledolen, first off, i was initially looking at the whole picture of waste service (our regular garbage pickup and this).

i understand what you're saying about the difference of city and country.

i'm assuming our tax dollars ultimately paid for that service. that "free" service no longer exists. if we were to use that service, it sounds as though we will now be paying additional money out of pocket.

i will no longer use the service. any excessive grass clippings will probably be thrown into the garbage.

i used that service occasionally. i have a 3-in-1 mower. sometimes i mulch. sometimes i bag. i don't mulch 100% of the time because it could lead to too much thatch.

for the record, i also compost. i have two bins and i also use two old garbage cans. oddly, i find composting fun. my kids have a constant supply of worms and i get black gold.

Postal - Mulch does not create thatch. Absolutely does not.

From the University of Illinois extension:

"The primary component of thatch is turfgrass stems and roots. It accumulates as these plant parts buildup faster than they breakdown. Thatch problems are due to a combination of biological, cultural, and environmental factors. Cultural practices can have a big impact on thatch. For example, heavy nitrogen fertilizer applications or overwatering frequently contribute to thatch, because they cause the lawn to grow excessively fast. Avoid overfertilizing and overwatering. Despite popular belief, short clippings dropped on the lawn after mowing are not the cause of thatch buildup. Clippings are very high in water content and breakdown rapidly when returned to lawns after mowing, assuming lawns are mowed on a regular basis (not removing more than one-third of the leaf blade)."
http://urbanext.illinois.edu/lawnchallenge/lesson5.html

To clarify, the clippings left on the lawn from a mulching lawn mower absolutely do NOT cause thatch.

thanks for the info, holland. looks like i'll only bag the clippings when the compost is hungry.

Did this place also collect Christmas trees? If so, how will people dispose of them since I believe the City of Toledo will no longer collect them.