As the Town of Vienna rethinks the economic and human impact of its centralized leaf collection, maybe this is an opportunity to rethink the environmental impact as well.
In this post, I suggest something the Town of Vienna might do to reduce the environmental harm of centralized collection and disposal of leaves.
Briefly: Give equal footing to policies of “put your leaves out for collection” and “better yet, don’t do that”. That is, raise awareness that the most environmentally sound way to dispose of leaves is to let them decompose in your yard. At the same time, make sure that citizens are aware of the substantial harm that centralized leaf collection and disposal does to our local population of butterflies and other pollinators. Maybe offer little “rustic butterflies” to match the “rustic hearts” that are all over town, signifying a household that promises not to rake their leaves to the curb every fall. Continue reading Post #1463: The Town of Vienna and leaf collection: What if we put the environment first?