Leaf & Pumpkin composting program starts this weekend

BACKGROUND:The City of Calgary is launching its annual fall Leaf & Pumpkin composting program starting Friday, September 25 until Sunday, November 8. Residents can bring their bagged leaves and pumpkins to one of the 36 drop-off locations around the city. Leaves and pumpkins collected through the program will be composted. “There are so many benefits to composting leaves and pumpkins,” says Waste & Recycling Services Superintendent Darcy Cairns. “When organic material is buried in the landfill it doesn’t decompose and creates byproducts like carbon dioxide and methane gas. By composting the material, we can keep it out of the landfills and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. It’s great to be able to turn the leaves and pumpkins into something useful again as nutrient-rich compost.” The program is heading into its 26th year and is a regular part of Calgarians’ fall routines. But not many residents are aware of the paper yard waste bags that The City recommends using. “We prefer the use of paper yard waste bags over plastic bags for the Leaf and Pumpkin program,” says Cairns. “Paper bags are more environmentally-friendly as they are 100% compostable and leave no waste behind. We would love to see Calgarians make the switch.” Here are some quick tips about this year’s Leaf & Pumpkin composting program:• Paper yard waste bags are preferred! You can usually find them in the same aisle as garbage bags at most grocery, hardware and garden retailers.• Only leaves and pumpkins are accepted. Please do not include rocks, branches, soil or sod.• This program is intended for residential use only.   Transcript / Time Code 100:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,640We're excited to offer the 26th annualLeaf and Pumpkin program 200:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,600there will be 33 drop-off locations around the city 300:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,060and the 3 landfills where residents can bring their leaves and pumpkins for free 400:00:10,060 --> 00:00:11,900we prefer that they (arrive) in compostable bags 500:00:11,900 --> 00:00:14,820it cuts down on the processing costs 600:00:14,820 --> 00:00:17,440if you want to bring in plastic bags we'll accept them as well 700:00:17,440 --> 00:00:21,340every year we collect 2 millionkilograms or 2 hundred thousand bags 800:00:21,340 --> 00:00:24,740of leaves and pumpkins that we are ableto keep out of our landfill 900:00:24,740 --> 00:00:26,640and make into useful product 1000:00:26,640 --> 00:00:28,500if you leave your leaves and pumpkins curbside 1100:00:28,500 --> 00:00:30,640they'll end up in the Black Cart (in the garbage) 1200:00:30,640 --> 00:00:36,420we'd prefer that you bring them to 1 of the 33 depots or 3 landfills where the'll be composted 1300:00:36,420 --> 00:00:39,220to find more information on the Leaf and Pumpkin program 1400:00:39,220 --> 00:00:41,960visit calgary.ca/leaf 1500:00:41,960 --> 00:00:46,820where you can find the locations of all 33 drop offs and 3 landfills     ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Members of the media and publicare welcomed to make and use copies of this materialto support their own news reporting.  Media Feed by The City of Calgary is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Based on a work athttp://thecityofcalgary.libsyn.com/podcast. Email notice of such use is sincerely appreciatedat [email protected]