This time of year, many Tallahassee residents are sprucing up their lawns, resulting in piles of yard debris left curbside for collection. Yard debris refers to vegetative fragments like tree trimmings, grass clippings, pine straw, small limbs and leaves. Residential yard debris is collected at the curb in front of each residence every other week, per the Red/Blue Week schedule.
Gather Yard Debris in Bags, Boxes or Bundles
Yard debris must be placed in bags, boxes or bundles next to the curb by 6:30 a.m. on your collection day. Pine straw, yard clippings and leaves are best placed in bags and boxes. That way, slight to strong winds won’t scatter them about, cluttering your street and threatening to clog stormwater drains. Paper bags and cardboard boxes are acceptable. The best containers, though, are compostable bags, which can be purchased at your nearest home improvement store. These brown paper bags break down organically with the collected yard debris.
For items too big or bulky for bags and boxes, there’s bundling. Items like tree limbs are perfect for bundling. When you’re bundling tree limbs, remember that limbs cannot be any larger than 4 inches in diameter and 6 feet long. Each bundled pile of limbs cannot be any larger than 6 feet long, 4 feet wide and 4 feet high.
If you hire a professional tree or lawn care service to maintain your yard, disposal is the contractor’s responsibility. Contractors should be aware of their responsibility to dispose of trees and yard debris on their own for clients.
Place Bags, Boxes or Bundles in the Appropriate Place
When disposing of your yard debris, place it within 3 feet of the curb and away from any low-hanging wires, trees or other overhead obstacles and at least 3 feet away from mailboxes, fences, water meters, etc. Bags, boxes and bundles cannot be picked up if obstructed by vehicles, trailers and other objects. There must be enough room surrounding the organized yard debris for a mechanical arm to pick it up and place it into the collection truck safely.
Yard debris collected from your curb is taken to the Leon County Solid Waste Facility to be turned into mulch. This mulch is then used to beautify public spaces like parks and trails or otherwise beneficially reused. It’s also available to you. You can pick up free mulch from the facility during business hours on weekdays.
At the City of Tallahassee, we are committed to preserving the charm and natural beauty of our city. By properly disposing of your yard debris, we can ensure the cleanliness of our community and environment – helping to keep Tallahassee a place we all love to call home.
For more information on how to properly dispose of your yard debris, visit Talgov.com. 
By Heather Teter, City of Tallahassee
