Last week the City of Greensboro Office of Sustainability and Resilience launched its “Leave the Leaves” program.
The plan asks Greensboro residents not to rake their leaves to the curb to be picked up by the city, but to leave them where they fall and let them decay naturally. According to the Office of Sustainability and Resilience, people can mulch the leaves with a lawnmower if they so choose, or they can simply let nature take its course.
The idea went over like a lead balloon.
The entire Rhino Times article about the Leave the Leaves plan, headlined, “City Offers Another Solution to Loose Leaf Collection Controversy,” was posted on Nextdoor.com, and that post received 690 comments – the vast majority negative.
District 3 City Councilmember Zack Matheny, who represents a number of residents with lots of trees, was also not impressed by the new program, which appears to be in response to the growing opposition to eliminating the loose leaf collection program in the 2024-2025 leaf season. Starting in March 2024, the city will no longer vacuum up leaves raked to the curb. In the 2024-2025 leaf season, leaves will have to be placed in the yard waste container, which the city will provide to each household, or put in biodegradable paper bags. The city will not pick up loose leaves or leaves in plastic bags beginning in March 2024.
Matheny on his Facebook page posted:
“Did you know the city was planning to use the vacuum trucks to clean up the leaves on city property? Did you know the city increased your taxes over $120 million the last two years only to take away this service?
“While mulching may have good intentions, will it work for the majority of taxpayers, no.
“This was a poorly planned idea that is set up to fail. And it will hurt the environment by more leaves being in the storm drains.
“What are your thoughts?”
Matheny received 87 comments from people sharing their thoughts. City Councilmember Marikay Abuzuaiter commented about mulching the leaves in her yard, but the other comments expressed opposition to ending loose leaf collection and many noted the absurdity of leaving a massive amount of leaves on their yards.
Harry Blair commented, “This is a sweet thought, but it’s just not realistic for some neighborhoods. Oak leaves take 3 to 4 years to decompose and when they do, they make the soil so acid that it’s harmful for bees and butterflies.”
Linda Breckenridge Palmer commented, “Idiotic idea. The city will look like a dump. Love how they try to make it sound warm and fuzzy.”
So unrealistic for those residents unable to manage the new rules to collect in the new can or put in the bags. AND what happens when the filled bags get wet???
I’m a senior citizen and and the city stopping the leaf collection is a major problem for me
I can’t even get the city to trim “their big oaks tree” on right of way
The city will “trim limbs” over the road but limbs endangering my home is my responsibility but since it’s a city tree I can’t get it taken down
The cost of having limbs trimmed
(on a city tree ) starts at $500 and on a retired senior citizen on social security makes the cost unaffordable
The large limbs are reaching my house and drop their leaves in the yard and fill up my gutters
I do both – blow them to side ditch and mow them but it still doesn’t solve the issues
The leaves are slippery (wet) and you can’t mow handicap ramps
The city Issue fines for trash cans left at the curb too early or too long
Why not issue fines for the homes that blow piles of leaves in the roadways which seems to one of the reasons the city wants to stop the program
I’ve had my leaves collected 1 time already this year
I watched while the employee sat in the truck and vacuumed up ( maybe half of my leaves) and drove on
No employee had to get out of the truck and get hurt
And the job was only half done
“City of Greensboro Office of Sustainability and Resilience.” I think I see one area we could cut the budget! Marikay must have two little trees in her yard. That might be doable. We have a forest of mature oak trees. We could mulch a fraction of the leaves. If we mulched the entire season we wouldn’t be able to get the mower through the mulch. And, goodbye lawn. The author of the “leave the leaves” essentially lectured us all on the evils of maintaining and enjoying a lawn on our property. These proposals are laughable. If it were as simple as mulching the leaves into the lawn, my dad would have done that 50 years ago.
Most importantly is the fact that these leaves will blow into the streets and when it rains the roads will become as dangerous as being covered with ice. Don’t wait for this happen to declare this idea ridiculous; abandon the idea now.
I’m grateful that the loose leaf collection program will end soon. It has become hazardous to pass in some neighborhoods because homeowners rake their leaves into the street. And there’s limited street parking due to the leaves being raked into the streets. When I’m out walking the leaves are slippery when wet and the mounds of leaves must be negotiated as cars are trying to pass through. Good bye loose leaf collection!!!
Meanwhile, Homicides and Aggravated Assaults just hit an all-time high in Greensboro. Where are your priorities Mayor Vaughan, Zack Matheny, and Greensboro City Council? Don’t you think you should be focusing on a solution to save lives and to protect the safety of our law-abiding citizens instead of leaves? At Greensboro’s current Homicide Rate there will be 60 more Homicides in Greensboro before it’s time to pick up leaves again!
Jim Donaldson
Last time I checked the civics books, it was the elected leaders who asked for input from the citizens in order to have a positive effect on policy. Yet, the current GBO council must believe it is “they” who are elected who get to decide on the policies and direction of the city, not the citizens of the city.
Remember, Queen Nancy was almost defeated and would have lost if there weren’t three candidates running for Mayor. Remember that next time you vote for Mayor, which I’m sure Nancy will be there. My vote? Get some new blood with great ideas with an eye on the tax reductions, not expansion. Also, reducing the number of city employees would be a great way to raise capital for the leaves program.
At least Zack has a brain. As for the rest of council, all of their brains could be held in a thimble. A 3rd world city in the making with smiling faces.
Not only is the loose leaf program change not very well thought out by the council especially after a 129,000,000.00 tax increase, the City of Greensboro Office of Sustainability and Resilience does not have a clue what they are talking about. After millions of dollars being spent on the City of Greensboro Office of Sustainability and Resilience is ends ip just being another waste of tax payer money, The political stunt that played out at Marikay’s house may actually back fire on her and the City of Greensboro Office of Sustainability and Resilience as many questions are now being asked if we the tax payer can really afford this department and what do they actually bring to the table for the tax payer. I think it is time for this council to announce that they will not seek reelection in 2025 and let some folks run that actually have the tax payer in mind instead of an agenda run by city staff.
I predict the tax payers will not accept this stupid decision. I am sure Charlotte picks up leaves and I suggest you send the city manager and his ideas back to charlotte.
If we have money for increasing salaries of city council then we have money to pick up leaves.
GSO is known for its beauty and trees.
Take that 95 gallon can and put it where the sun don’t shine. My leaves are going in the street can or no can.
Leaf service disfunction is the tip of the iceberg. Office of Sustainability??? Bless their heart.
Is obvious that the city can’t effectively manage services much less the windfall revenue from reassessments. We need to get a go-fund-me going to file an injunction on the city spending the windfall. The reassessment rate should have been adjusted to be revenue neutral. The rates need to rolled back. Is the city tone deaf? Recession is on the horizon and we need to return the excess to the people so they can pay bills.
The loose leaf program has worked for as long as I can remember and I have lived here for more than 60 years. What changed? The trees? The streets?The neighborhoods? Maybe it’s the neighbors. Maybe this is not the way it was done back home. Or maybe someone stands to make some money from implementing a change. Maybe it’s the people who make the recyclable paper bags? Or perhaps the people who make the plastic bins.
One ‘compromise’ that the city could make is to keep the leaf collection, but change to the paper biodegradable bags. I have taken yard waste to the yard waste dump site, and there are always several employees cutting open the plastic yard waste bags that have been trucked in. This seems like such a waste of resources. Paper bags would eliminate the need for this. Keep the loose leaf collection and switching from plastic to paper bags would save some resources.
what does the fire marshal think about this ? smoky the bare ? the smothered vegetation ? the segmented annelid ? how do i confirm i am a “spammer” ?