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Did you know that yard waste accounts for almost 14 percent of the municipal solid waste (MSW) generated each year in the United States? To put that number into perspective, that amounts to about 33.4 million tons of waste, or around 216 pounds of waste per person per year! Sources of yard waste include grass, fallen leaves, tree branches, brush trimmings, and other sources of waste that come from regular landscaping tasks. Grass clippings that come from regularly mowing the lawn is the most significant component of yard waste, accounting for almost half of total yard waste by weight. When measured by volume, fallen leaves are the biggest component, as any homeowner who has painstakingly raked and bagged leaves during the fall time knows.Unfortunately, an enormous amount of yard waste ends up in our nation´s already overcrowded landfills. Those bagged leaves, grass clippings, fallen branches, and other sources of yard waste are actually the third largest component of generated municipal solid waste in the nation. Only paper products and food waste account for more MSW each year. In this short article, we will briefly explain some of the main problems that come with sending your yard waste to the landfill, and then offer three simple ways to get rid of your yard waste in a more efficient and environmentally friendly way.
