Choose Your Halloween Cleanup Costume!
Fall has officially arrived. Your and your neighbor's yards are accumulating various types of debris as plants prepare for winter dormancy. The most common types of fall debris include leaves, pine needles and cones, twigs and small branches, weeds, plant stalks, and other garden waste. All of which are compostable!
Cleaning up these organics is an important part of yard maintenance. It’s good to leave a small amount of fallen leaves and some stalks and stems for soil insulation and nutrients which also provides a nice winter home for pollinators. However, leaving too much debris allows for pest infestations and may encourage diseases to develop throughout the winter months. Cleaning up your lawn for fall and winter is a big task, and once you’ve got everything piled up, how do you get rid of this nutrient-rich debris? The next step is more important than you think.
This fall, we have bins ready for Missoulians whose schedules do not work with the city’s leaf pickup, or whose leaves drop late. Two 96-gallon bins, the equivalent of 8 large paper leaf bags, which will be picked up every week for a month for only $40.00! Share bins with your neighbors and keep your neighborhood looking sharp all fall. No paper bags are required when using our bins. There is nothing quite like the peace of mind knowing that we are building Missoula’s soils, not our landfills, with your tree’s beautiful fall foliage.
What are you dressing up as this Halloween?
The Garbage Ghoul
The Garbage Ghoul grabs out that big roll of black garbage bags, packs them as full as possible, and sets them on the curb destined for the landfill. Not only is it a hassle to get all the material in all those bags, but it's also a waste of resources. Leaves and fall debris are a gift to protect soil and provide nutrients for new growth.
The Fire Fiend
The Fire Fiend piles debris for a fall-time bonfire. Simple and easy but has major drawbacks. Burning adds to ground-level ozone, threatens wildfire, and damp material will cause smoldering, drastically increasing emissions.
The Bed & Breakfast Host
The BnB host sets a small pile to the side of their lawn and leaves some debris in the garden to provide pollinators with a warm home to settle into for the winter. You have officially become a wintertime “Bed and Breakfast” host, or should we say “Bee & Butterfly” host!
The “Hold on, I’ve got this”
You’ve got the time and means to transport your lawn waste straight to Missoula’s Compost Facility by the Walmart on Reserve. Hauling debris over to Garden City Compost is a wonderful thing to do with unwanted leaves.
Who You Gonna Call? - The Compost Busters
Don’t get spooked by lawn waste! Give Missoula Compost a call, at 406-370-5876, to request a one-time pick-up at your address. Make sure leaves are bagged in brown paper or compostable lawn bags. Quick and easy.
Group Costume - The “A” Team!
“We love it when a plan comes together”. Get the whole neighborhood on board and scare up a deal on two 96-gallon green bins to share with your neighbors from October through November. Maintain your lawns in your own time with weekly pick-ups. Split the price between anyone, or everyone, on your street and make yard cleanup easy!
Which option is right for you?
We strongly encourage leaving a bit of debris to host a BnB before sending excess material off to the compost facility in whatever way works best for you. If you see any Garbage Ghouls filling up black bags, please let them know about the other awesome options Missoula has for leaf disposal.
Stay warm, have fun, and compost on!
Your Friends at Missoula Compost
