Four Options to Get Rid of Your Leaves
The 2007 leaf collection season for the Town of West Hartford begins with curbside pick-up of bagged leaves on Monday, October 15th and continues for 10 weeks through Friday, December 21st. Leaf bags should be at the curb by 6:00 AM on your regular refuse collection day.
Curbside vacuum leaf collection will begin on Monday, November 5th and will conclude on Friday, December 7th. Call 570-3714 to find out approximately when the crews will be in your neighborhood.
You can view the leaf collection quadrant map HERE.
The Town provides West Hartford residents with three options for recycling leaves:
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1. Weekly Curbside Collection of Paper Leaf Bags |
| How: | Place bagged leaves at the curb in biodegradable paper leaf bags with a 30-gallon capacity. No plastic bags accepted. Please remember that these paper bags are only for use with leaves, and only for the 10-week collection season. Here is a list of paper leaf bag suppliers. 60lbs. maximum weight. |
| When: | Leaf bags will be picked up each week on the normal trash collection day starting Monday, October 15 and ending Friday, December 21. Place bags at curb by 6:00 AM. |
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2. One Vacuum Collection of Leaves Raked to Curbside |
| How: | Rake leaves to the curb but not in the street. Be sure there are no foreign objects like rocks, branches or brush clippings with your leaves. |
| When: | The leaf vacuum crew will make ONE round through each neighborhood starting Monday, November 5 and finishing on December 7 . This year, vacuum collection crews will start in the southwest quadrant of each refuse collection area and proceed clockwise through that area. |
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3. Drop Off Leaves at the Brixton Street Recycling Center |
| How: | If leaves are bagged in biodegradable paper leaf bags with a 30-gallon capacity, residents may drop them in the designated area at the Recycling Center, 25 Brixton Street. If the leaves are in plastic bags, residents must open the bags to empty their leaves in the bin and properly dispose of the plastic bag later. Or use your old trash barrels replaced by your new automated barrel can be used to transport your leaves. |
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During leaf collection season (October 15th through December 21st) , the Town Recycling Center at 25 Brixton Street will be open on Monday from 8:00 AM until 7:00 PM, Tuesday through Friday from 8:00 AM until 4:00 PM; and Saturday from 8:00 AM until 2:00 PM. Residents may dispose of their leaf bags at no charge. Residents bringing in leaves in plastic bags will have to dump their leaves out and dispose of their bags because the plastic bags are not recyclable. |
4. A fourth option to leaf removal is mulching. Dana Hallenbeck, Director of Public Works, makes this recommendation: "I strongly suggest all residents consider mulching their leaves with their lawn mower. I live in town, have many trees on my property, and have not raked leaves to curbside in 9 years. I simply mow my leaves. It does require you to mow them weekly, and there are some weeks I have had to go over the lawn twice - and on very rare occasions, a third time (once with the mower deck set higher and the second or third time with the deck back to normal). This method works well. Below are before and after photos of my rear yard using this method.
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The Town is also making vouchers available to West Hartford residents who use landscape contractors that will allow the contractors to dispose of residents' leaves at the Town's recycling center free of charge. According to Dana Hallenbeck, Public Works Director, West Hartford "eliminated the charge to contractors in order to encourage proper leaf disposal." The voucher allows contractors to dispose of leaves only (no other yard waste) collected from West Hartford properties free of charge at the Town's recycling center at 25 Brixton Street. Hallenbeck added, "It is our hope the voucher will lower residents' costs as well as help get leaves off the street." Contractors will be required to present the voucher at the recycling center as proof that the leaves came from a West Hartford property. To get a voucher application, interested residents may contact the Department of Public Works at 561-8100 between 8:00 AM and 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, print out a voucher or pick one up in the Town Hall lobby at 50 South Main Street.
The Town's 24-hour "Leaf Line" was activated on September 5, 2007. Residents may call 570-3714 for an up-to-date recorded message on the leaf collection schedule. Information on leaf collection is also aired on West Hartford Government & Education Channel (Comcast Channel 19).
Here are a few points for residents to remember about leaf collection:
- Remove branches, sticks and stones from leaves because they can injure leaf collection personnel, damage equipment and contaminate future mulch.
- Rake leaves to the edge of the road at curbside - not into the street or on the sidewalk. Wet leaves cause slippery driving conditions and drainage problems if they clog catchbasins.
- Do not park your car on top of or near a leaf pile. Hot catalytic converters can start a fire and block collection vehicles.
