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 Cleanup instructions for fallen tree limbs Thursday, July 4, 2013: Independence Day - No County-provided recycling or trash collections on July 4; Thursday and Friday collections that week shift by one day. |
Talking Trash |
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Monday, March 07, 2011Transfer Station tips for easy yard trim drop-offTips from the manager of our Solid Waste Transfer Station and Processing Facility... Dear Tree Limb and Yard Trim Customers: The Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station has been experiencing long lines for you during peak operating hours. In order to avoid lines please consider the following options:
-- posted by Susanne Thursday, May 06, 2010From branches to mulch
The numbers are in! In March, we felt the aftermath of this winter’s snow storms at our Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station, where we grind branches and woody vegetation into mulch. During March 2009, we produced 2,428 tons of mulch. During March 2010, we produced over 17,552 tons — over seven times as much! Need any mulch for your yard or other projects? We have lots available our Neighborhood Mulch Preserves. -- posted by Susanne Friday, December 11, 2009Is yard trim collection year-round?From our mailbag: Does the County pick up yard waste year round or does it stop during the winter? We still have branches and sticks that we would like to put out with our recycle but want to know if the County will pick it up.Thank you for your question, M. Yes, our curbside yard trim collection is a year-round service. Please set your your branches and sticks out at the curb by 7 a.m. on your collection day, bundled, bagged in paper yard trim bags, or put into a labeled, reusable container. If you need yard trim decals for labeling containers, you may order them online, or by contacting our Call Center at 240-777-6410. There is no charge for the decals. What happen to the branches we collect as yard trim? We grind them up into mulch, which we offer back to the public at our Mulch Preserves. --posted by Susanne Monday, November 16, 2009Put leaves in nothing fancier than brown bags or reusable cans What ferocious "pumpkins"! With leering smiles, they munch on leaves!
Look again, and you'll see that they are sporting a bit of extra orange... That's one of our rejection tags, indicating that these carefully bagged leaves were unacceptable for recycling collection. As you prepared your autumn leaves for weekly curbside yard trim recycling collection, please set them out only in paper yard trim bags, or in labeled, reusable cans. We shred and compost the yard trim we receive. During this process, plastic bags which come in are broken into a gazillion tiny pieces that create tremendous problems at our facilities. To help prevent this, we are unable to accept yard trim packaged in plastic. If you'd like to try your hand at composting your own leaves - it's easy, and the resulting product is wonderful for your lawn and garden - pick up one of our bins at no charge. Monday, November 09, 2009The Fall 2009 Leaf Vaccuming begins today!Today is the first day of the 2009 leaf vacuuming program! The Montgomery County Department of Transportation's Division of Highway Services, one of our sister agencies, provides this service in the Leaf Collection District. This District's general boundaries are: south of Bel Pre Road, east of I-270/I-495 and west of New Hampshire Avenue, to the District line. Please help crews by
Read full details on leaf vacuuming, including a service area map and progress updates. Don't have leaf vacuuming service in your neighborhood? We provide our weekly curbside yard trim collections -- including leaves in paper yard trim bags or reusable cans -- year-round! You may order yard trim decals for your cans online. Also, consider composting leaves. We offer compost bins at no additional charge to you. Keep all of our yard trim links handy through one convenient web page: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/yardtrim --posted by Susanne
Thursday, June 11, 2009Yard trim labels are great... when they stickFrom our mailbag, in response to my recent post about the importance of labelling yard trim cans: I agree with your concerns about labeling yard waste cans. The problem is that those labels are not robust enough to stick or stand-up to moisture and come off readily. Thanks for your comments, M. Agreed. Getting the yard trim labels to remain on cans has been a challenge sometimes. We haven't given up! When we ordered our most recent batch of labels this Spring, we selected ones which are supposed to have better adherence and fade-resistance than our previous ones. We'd be happy to mail you replacement yard trim labels from our new stock. We're also happy to make a house call with spray adhesive for yard trim stickers which refuse to stay stuck. To request a visit, please contact our Customer Service staff. --posted by Susanne Comment from Scott - June 26, 2009: Thursday, May 21, 2009What's in the can? Labels are critical.The issue challenges our collection crews throughout the year. But, it's especially acute in the spring. Quick! What's in this can?
Since it *is* a trash can, there a good chance that the contents are trash. But, what if the resident has followed our advice on using reusable cans for yard trim, and has set out grass, leaves, or brush instead? It's hard to tell, right? Our collection crews have the same problem! As they drive down your street, the only way they have of knowing the can contents of a lidded trash can for sure is stop, lift the lid, and peer inside. Yard trim collection routes typically service approximately 1,500 homes per day. Stopping to check every trash can that's set out to see whether there are leaves, grass, or brush -- or trash -- inside slows the crew signficantly.
We are happy to send you yard trim decals at no charge. The decals are also available at local libraries. -- posted by Susanne Wednesday, February 04, 2009New compost bin pickup site... with weekend hours!Given the snow that swirled around this morning, your thoughts may not yet have returned to gardening and composting. But, when they do, we're ready with a new pickup point for compost bins. We just added the Habitat for Humanity ReStore in Gaithersburg to our list of distribution sites. What's more, the ReStore is open Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.! Our compost bins are available to County residents and businesses at no charge. Compost bin pickup locations, and bin details --posted by Susanne Tuesday, January 27, 2009January 27, 2009: Transfer Station closing at 5 p.m. + yard trim collection canceledWith icy conditions expected this evening, we will be closing the Public Unloading and Recycling Drop-off Area at the Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station at 5:00 p.m. today, January 27, 2009. On January 28, 2009, yard trim collection is canceled, due to weather. Still need to recycle your Christmas tree? We've extended the collection through next week. Monday, November 10, 2008Compost bins are available; Leaf vacuuming is underway for 2008The leaves are falling from trees in full force! My household had an industrious weekend of raking. The casualties included a snapped rake and some sore muscles. But, we're delighted that our "Vintage 2008" batch of compost is in progress. If you need a compost bin for your yard, stop in at one of our bin pick-up locations. We've made sure that they are well-stocked for your visit. Leaf vacuuming collection began on November 3, 2008, and will continue for several weeks. Our colleagues in Highway Services are posting updates on their crews' leaf pickup progress. Also, check out the do's and don'ts that will help keep your neighborhood safe while your leaves await collection, and enable crews to work more efficiently. We've gathered the links for grasscycling, composting, compost bin locations, and leaf collection in one handy place for you: -- posted by Susanne Sunday, September 28, 2008"Extreme Makeover - Home Edition" uses Leafgro in landscapingWhen the "Extreme Makeover - Home Edition" show featuring the construction of a home in Poolesville airs on television tonight, keep an eye on the exterior work, too. The landscaping part of the project used Leafgro, produced at our nearby Compost Facility! Here, workers added Leafgro to the planting hole as they installed a tree:
Find Leafgro retailers near you for your own gardening and landscaping projects. -- posted by Susanne Tuesday, April 15, 2008Grasscycling tips come to your mailbox
The mailer is a handy grasscycling guide and reference, with information about advantages to grasscycling and how-to tips. Learn more about grasscycling techniques environmentally-friendly lawn care
Wednesday, March 26, 2008Where can I buy Leafgro for my yard and garden?
What's Leafgro®? It's a product we love to talk about! The leaves and grass you set out for curbside yard trim recycling collection go to our Compost Facility. The resulting product -- a rich, dark compost -- is sold in bags and in bulk under the Leafgro® name. Our online tour shows how Leafgro® is made.
Monday, March 24, 2008Recycling Fact Sheets on 6 topics now available in our "web store"We've just put recycling fact sheets on six popular topics into our "web store" for download. These topics are:
Comment on this post
CATEGORIES: Apartments/Condo Recycling (TRRAC) , Business recycling (SORRT) , Paper , Plastic , Recycling , Scrap Metal , Yard Trim
POSTED: 8:30:00 AM | 
Sunday, March 16, 2008Our yard trim information is just a shortcut awayA resident asked us for online information about yard trim recycling and our compost bins. We gave her the direct links to these pages. She wrote back to thank us, adding: Now I just need to explain to others (as a message in a newsletter) how to find them (without the ridiculously long URL) at the DPWT website. The good news is that you may find our yard trim and composting information quickly and easily at www.montgomerycountymd.gov/yardtrim. Thank you, P., for the opportunity to share our yard trim information shortcut! Saturday, January 12, 2008From pretty Christmas trees to marvelous mulchWhat happens to your Christmas tree after it is whisked away from your curb for recycling? Yard trim trucks carrying leaves, grass, and brush -- and Christmas trees! -- enter the Solid Waste Transfer Station through its Truck Entrance.
After weighing in on the scales, the trucks head over to the Yard Trim area.
Look at that big pile of yard trim and trees! See those paper yard trim bags? They will be ground up right along with their contents.
Here is the grinder at work.
The pile of yard trim and trees is in the foreground of this photo; the resulting mulch pile is in the background. With the remainder of the autumn leaves, and now the Christmas trees, in the mix, January and February are excellent times to come and take home some of our mulch.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007How do I recycle my Christmas tree?
Simply set it out at the curb for collection on your recycling day, starting next Wednesday. Our Christmas tree recycling program will run from Wednesday, December 26, 2007 through Friday, February 1, 2008 for this holiday season. Gone are the days when you need to pack your dry, needle-shedding tree into your car for transport to your closest collection point! Please give us only your tree -- no lights, no decorations, no wires, no tree stand, and no plastic tree bag. Why? We grind up the trees to create mulch. Larger metal items like tree stands are problems because they can damage the grinding equipment and also become safety hazards. The decorations, plastics, and the like become contaminants in the finished mulch. Keep reading our blog -- a future post will show you our Christmas tree operations. Unfortunately, what we can't offer you online is the wonderful pine fragrance which accompanies the Christmas tree mulch-making! For that, you'll have to come to the Solid Waste Transfer Station yourself! Thursday, December 06, 2007When will my leaves be picked up?From our mailbag: I live at [address removed] and still have not seen a [leaf] collection. We in the Division of Solid Waste Services provide the weekly curbside yard trim collection; the leaf vacuuming is done by our sister agency, the Highway Operations Section. Our colleagues in Highway Operations are posting leaf collection updates to their website to keep residents up-to-date about crews' progress. In neighborhoods receiving leaf vacuuming, crews post signs a few days in advance of each leaf collection. Crews do their best to meet their planned schedules. However, Mother Nature can and does pose challenges to them. For example, yesterday's snow meant that some of the leafing equipment was put on "snow duty." And, when that snow melts, the wet leaves will be more difficult to vacuum than dry leaves. Monday, November 05, 2007Montgomery County leaf vacuuming begins todayLeaf vacuuming in Montgomery County kicks off today. While we - the Division of Solid Waste Services - provide weekly curbside yard trim collection, the leaf vacuuming is provided by a sister agency, the County's Highway Maintenance Section. Whether or not you have leaf vacuuming service in your neighborhood... Autumn is a great time to start composting, with fallen leaves as a key ingredient. And, we offer compost bins at no charge to help get you started! Monday, November 05, 2007Oops! No yard trim in plastic orange pumpkin bags, please!Those large plastic orange bags which look like pumpkins do add a festive touch to Halloween and fall decorations in your yard. However, our field staff reports that they are seeing "pumpkin bags" set out at the curb, filled with leaves for yard trim collection. Oops! We'll gladly pick up your bagged leaves... as long as the bag is paper.
So, if you use "pumpkin bags" to contain items for collection, please use them for your trash rather than for your leaves. Wednesday, August 08, 2007How you do turn your compost pile?Updated August 14, 2012: We no longer use biodiesel fuel for this equipment. 
How do you turn your compost pile? A pitchfork works splendidly for backyard composting. But, when you have 77,000 tons of leaves and grass to process, you need a tool that is a bit more robust. Wednesday, July 25, 2007How to get yard trim decals From our mailbag:My neighbor has a label that he pasted on a big waste bin where he puts his garden waste. I use the disposable paper bags which rot out on the bottom if rained on. Where can I get a label such as the ones my neighbor has?Your new yard trim decals are only a few clicks away; we offer them to you at no charge through our website. Then, watch for the envelope in your mail. You may also order decals by phone from our Customer Service staff: 240-777-6410. |
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What's grasscycling? How do you do it? The answers are on their way to your mailbox! (We sent out 
With the longer days and warmer temperatures of Spring, folks are heading back outdoors to yards and gardens. We know because your questions about where to buy 
How may you recycle your Christmas tree? 
What's wrong with plastic bags? The leaves we collect go to our Montgomery County Division of Solid Waste Services
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