Special Yard Waste Pickup on Monday for Storm Debris

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Saturday, July 9, 2016, 3:30 pm
By: 
Alice Dreger

Above: An East Lansing yard waste bag, but you can use any type of yard waste bag for Monday. Read on.

UPDATE: The City of East Lansing is offering another no-fee yard-waste pickup on Monday, July 18. Large-debris pickup will also continue through this coming week.

Because many East Lansing residents are dealing with cleaning up a large number of small branches and leaves as well as big limbs in the wake of yesterday’s storm, the City will provide a no-fee yard waste pickup on Monday, July 11.

Here’s how to handle plant debris in your yard:

Small branches and leaves: If possible, compost these at your home. You do not need a fancy compost bin. Just pile them up and the pile will rot over time into useful dirt for your garden or container plants. Composting is good for the environment in part because it means City trucks don’t have to be used to transport the material elsewhere.

If you cannot compost material, you should get leaves and small branches bagged up or binned and to the curb by Monday morning at 7 a.m. if at all possible. Do not sweep branches and leaves into the street. This leads to clogging of the storm drains.

You can put leaves and small branches in yard waste bags available at places like hardware stores and big grocery stores.  You do not need to have a “City of East Lansing” bag nor do you need a City sticker for them for Monday’s pick-up. Do not exceed 40 pounds. These are manually lifted by workers.

You can also put leaves and smaller branches in any uncovered rigid plastic container (like a plastic garbage bin) not larger than 32 gallons. (Do NOT use your City-issued garbage can or recycling bin.) Again, do not exceed 40 pounds. These are manually lifted by workers.

Again, please do not sweep material into the street or onto the sidewalks and try to have it out by Monday morning.

Large branches and uprooted trees: Pull them to the curbside as soon as possible. You do not need to cut them up or bundle them. Be aware it may take several weeks for the City to pick these up because there is so much damage.

Be patient with City workers. This is a big job. Cathy DeShambo, Environmental Services Administrator for the City, asks us to tell you, “There is a considerable amount of debris out there and it may take us weeks to complete the collection. We have assessed what we can see curbside currently, but we don't know the extent of debris that is still in residents' yards that isn't curbside yet.”

DeShambo adds, “Our crews have been in responding since Friday but we ask that residents be patient with the debris collection and to please contact us with questions or concerns. We also ask residents to please use caution when cleaning up their yards and consider hiring a professional to clear larger branches and unstable/downed trees.”

 

 

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