Remember “Don’t Bag It?”
The program, which saved the landfills from being inundated with grass clippings, was a great accomplishment. Now the City has broadened “Don’t Bag It” to leaves. Raked and bagged leaves will not be collected with regular trash, but their disposal will be easier than dealing with all those grass clippings.
The City will collect bags of leaves once a month with the brush and bulky object pickup. If you are unsure of your pickup date, call the Sanitation Department’s Customer Service office at 670-8221.
Put your leaves out with the brush, but separate from the bulky objects. Even though both items are picked up on the same day, different trucks are used, so remember to keep the organics together.
The Sanitation Department also asks that you wait until one week before your pickup date to put your items out for collection. If your leaves just can’t wait, take them to the same collection sites that accepted grass clippings this summer.
The locations are: Bachman Transfer Station (Dry Gulch), 9500 Harry Hines (670-6150); Oak Cliff Transfer Station, 4610 S. Westmoreland (670-1927); and McCommas Landfill, 5100 Youngblood (670-0977).
Dallas residents generate about 200,000 tons of yard waste annually. It’s the second largest refuse item we produce (15 percent to paper’s 41 percent). Here’s the breakdown on that 200,000 tons: 50 percent grass clippings, 30 percent leaves, and 20 percent brush. Instead of sending all this organic matter to the landfills, let’s put it to good use.
