. . .the trees have begun to drop their leaves.Leaves are a key component of compost. They make up the "browns" or carbon rich ingredients (the other component are the "greens" or nitrogen rich ingredients).
One of the roles that "browns" play is to help control the odors that might develop in a compost pile. I'd say that's a pretty valuable role!
So, from an ecological standpoint, fallen leaves. . .
. . .might just as well be like piles of dollar bills lying around for the taking!
Two approaches:
ReplyDeleteOn "Sunday Morning" they had a segment about leaf blowers and the problems they create in addition to blowing away leaves. This essentially views leaves as a nuisance to be gotten rid of as quickly as possible. BOO!
Later, happened to read about "NYLeaves" a (http://nycleaves.org/) in the BIG newsletter. NYLeaves is a non-profit organization consisting of a "which maps out neighborhood-based coalition of community gardens, botanical gardens, greening groups, environmental organizations" who view leaves as a valuable resource to be diverted from the wastestream and put to good use. They have a map of participating gardens. YEAH!