The City of Greensboro is really into this “Leave the Leaves” thing.
Two press releases in two days is almost unprecedented in the annals of the Greensboro Communications and Marketing Department.
The second press release encouraging residents not to rake their leaves on Tuesday, Nov. 28 is pretty much a repeat of the first, with the addition of – wait for it – a contest. However, it is sorely lacking in information about what kind of fantastic prizes the best non-leaf raker in the city will receive for winning the contest.
According to the Monday, Nov. 27 press release, if you took the pledge to leave your leaves on your yard, you got a lovely sign to place in your yard.
But now the ante has been upped. The Nov. 28 press release states, “Anyone who takes the pledge will be eligible for a contest to recognize ‘Greensboro’s Best Sustainable Lawn or Garden’ next spring.”
No information on how the pledgers will be policed or what happens to someone who makes the pledge and then rakes their leaves when they discover their grass is dying. What does it take to un-pledge? Does the un-pledge have to be notarized? Is the pledge legally binding? Do you need to hire an attorney to get out of your pledge?
What if a neighbor, just trying to be helpful, rakes some of your leaves without your permission, do you lose your pledge status? Are your stricken forever from the roles of eligible contestants?
According to an email from City Councilmember Zack Matheny, the city itself has apparently not taken the pledge.
In an email about the “Leave the Leaves” program, Matheny states, “I find this initiative very interesting, mainly due to the fact that I witnessed the City vacuuming our own leaves from the MMOB [city hall] property.”
The email continues, “Question, this year and next, what is the city’s plan for addressing leaves on city property? Including the MMOB and any city park or other property.”
In a second email Matheny asks what the cost will be for the city to mulch or bag and discard the leaves on city property.
The city owns a lot of property, but “Leave the Leaves” appears to be another one of those programs based on the old adage – “Do as I say not as I do.”
Kudo s to GSO for taking this stand for pollinators who overwinter in those leaf beds…including that beautiful luna moth. Happy.
Ha! I was at the courthouse Monday and city employees were blowing and running their cute little NOISY vacs. Couldn’t even enjoy a peaceful sunny winter morning. What a joke.
We sure have some lame brain people running our city. Why did they raise taxes two years in a row to cut a program much needed? These people are out of touch with reality.
Bingo, bingo, bingo!!!!!
Office of sustainability? How much of our tax money does it take to sustain this.useless department?
I can make a suggestion on where to leave your leaves.
God help us.
I would like to know how much those wonderful signs are costing us if we “Leave the Leaves”? Tax payers money at work.
Leave the leaves, kill your grass, increase the erosion of of your yard and therefore increase pollution in the streams…brilliant!
Leaves of grass.
The common types of generic grass we use in our lawns don’t do much to prevent erosion. Leaves help contribute to soil quality and beneficial insects, which in turn pollinate and support plants that can help hold the soil in place. Meanwhile, humans will continue littering, dumping chemicals, and otherwise trashing the water quality in our local streams. Don’t mind the science though, sounds like you’re already very well informed.
It is clear that politicians are not the brightest of the bunch. A possible upside from this madness will be an increased opportunity for entrepreneurs to build a business model that allows them to remove people’s leaves at an affordable cost.
Leave the leaves signs this year………2025 – fines for overgrown vegetation. Those acorns are soon to become trees!