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Mature trees pose leaf pick-up challenges

Resident questions city move to ban plastics in leaf pick-up, says switching one problem for another
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St. Albert residents will no longer be able to put out leaves for curbside collection in plastic bags as of this fall. The city has banned the bags to reduce the use of single-use plastic items. Residents should use bins or paper bags instead. CHRIS COLBOURNE/St. Albert Gazette

Mature trees abound in St. Albert – it being the oldest non-fortified community in Alberta – and when autumn rolls around, they can shed copious amounts of leaves onto neighbouring properties, posing clean-up challenges for some residents.

That is especially true this year, as the city eliminates plastic bags in its annual curbside leaf pick-up program as part of its single-use plastic reduction strategy.

Joyce Ryks, a Forest Lawn resident, said her home is surrounded by big, beautiful elm trees. As a result, she has to collect about 15 to 20 bags of leaves every year.

“It’s a massive project,” she said. “They just drop leaves like you would not believe.”

Ryks wrote into the Gazette questioning whether the decision to eliminate plastic bags for leaf collection has been thoroughly considered.

She was also unsure how to deal with all the extra leaves she has to collect and said it would not be feasible to store the leaves in her garage and gradually put them out in her organics bin over the winter, and she does not have a truck to transport the leaves to the compost depot.

According to St. Albert waste and diversion program supervisor Olivia Kwok, residents have four options for leaf collection. The two regular options are putting leaves in the green organics bin or driving them to the compost depot.

During the city’s curbside leaf pick-up program, Kwok said residents can use paper bags or reusable containers, something new this year.

“What we learned is residents still have a lot of their old garbage cans from before when we implemented the cart program and they can reuse those over and over,” she said.

When asked about the durability of paper bags, Kwok said they “hold up pretty well” and are not just a thin layer of paper.

Ryks questioned how well paper bags would function, given how much rain the city gets and considering it can take a few weeks for city staff to come around for leaves.

Overall, Ryks said it seems with plastic reduction the city is switching out one problem for another.

“And all the recycling in plastic bags already, it’s like, seriously? We’re putting that out all year; this leaf thing is just one time in the year,” she said.

St. Albert’s curbside leaf pick-up program will run this year Sept. 30 to Oct. 11 and Oct. 28 to Nov. 8.

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