HELENA — As the seasons change and trees shed their leaves, many of us are left wondering what to do with all that colorful clutter.
“When it comes to leaves falling, what falls on your property, essentially out to the curb, is your responsibility, and what falls in the street is the city’s responsibility, ” said Chris Couey, the City of Helena deputy director of transportation.
Madelyn Heath reports - watch the video:
The City of Helena takes to the streets in the fall with their fleet of street sweepers and leaf vacuum. These operations can gather between three and six thousand pounds daily.
These leaves are all then taken to the transfer station, where leaves raked from your yard should end up, too.
“We see a lot more traffic for things like yard waste, green waste, be it branches, leaves, grass cuttings,” says Emily Jacobson, the City of Helena sustainability and recycling coordinator.
The transfer station brings in around 215 tons of just leaves annually. All those leaves will then make their way to be composted at the Lewis and Clark County landfill.
If you're bringing your own bags to the transfer station, there are a couple of things to remember.
Jacobson says, “Keeping your leaves separate from your branches is really important because they are in two different piles.”
Also, take all leaves out of bags and do not rake them into the street because “it takes a lot more time if residents are putting their leaves out into the street and just takes that much longer to get through the process,” said Couey.
The city says they only have about a three-month window before the peak of winter snowfall.
Couey says, “Our goal, I think, with all of that is to not only keep the streets clear as we get into winter but also to keep the storm gutters clear as we go into winter.”
The city will begin leaf collection operations in October as more leaves are on the ground.
