JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan.–If you’re sick of raking leaves you may want to stop. New rules are going into effect in 2012 for Johnson County where leaves will be considered yard waste.
2011 is the last year the Johnson County landfill will accept yard waste. In 2012, trash haulers won’t be allowed to bring bags of leaves to the landfill. Other options will be available.
Janet Strass has 48 bags headed for the Johnson County landfill but that option won’t exist come January 1, 2012.
“We’re going to have to scramble to figure out something next year,” Strass said.
Craig Wood is the Solid Waste Coordinator for Johnson COunty.
“We’re getting a lot of phone calls,” Wood said.
He says the biggest misconception people have is that no one will pick up their leaves next year.
“They (haulers) can pick up leaves from the curbside but they can’t go to the landfill,” he said. “They’ll be diverted to composting operations.”
Depending on your trash company you’ll be able to put out so many bags per week, and pay a dollar or so for each bag over the limit, though your limit will increase in the fall. The county hopes more people will simply do as Wood does and mulch mow their leaves. Grinded leaves work like fertilizer and can also be spread around flower beds and trees.
“It will just help conserve moisture around the base of the tree,” he said.
Plus, his compost pile of leaves and food scraps is good for the yard.
“It’ll filter down into the roots of the grass,” he said.
Homeowner’s limits will increase in the fall.
Strass says she’s all for less bags and a landfill with a longer life.
“If you don’t extend the life of it, then what happens?” she said. “Where are you going to put stuff?
Johnson County believes 80 percent of what goes to the curb should be in a recycle bin or a compost bin which is why there’ll be new limits on trash bags, too. If you go over the limit, you’ll pay extra.