CLEVELAND — Cleveland's annual leaf pick-up will resume next week.
Department of Public Works Division of Street Maintenance 2023 leaf pick-up program will run for eight weeks starting on Monday, November 6 through Friday, December 29 (weather permitting).
The leaves collected through the program will be disposed of at an approved compost site. The city of Cleveland says this will save over 2,000 tons of leaf material from entering the waste system.
Over the course of the program, maintenance crews will deploy sweepers, leaf machines, end loaders and leaf blowers throughout the city.
Notifications will be given to residents at least one week in advance of service in their area to allow enough time for leaves to be brought to the front lawn of their property for collection. The Department of Public Works also reminds residents to not park on city streets during leaf collection days.
Want to put the leaves to good use instead of having them removed? The leaves can be turned into mulch by mowing the leaves into smaller pieces and placing them into home gardens or landscape features on your property.
“Instead of raking leaves to the tree lawn or bagging them up for collection, an environmentally friendly alternative is raking them into garden beds or around the bases of trees and shrubs, where they will fertilize the soil as they break down,” said Cleveland's Director of Sustainability and Climate Justice Sarah O’Keeffe. “Fallen leaves also provide an important winter habitat for wildlife.”
Residents are also asked to never rake leaves into the street. This may cause sewers to clog, negatively affect snow and ice control as well as create an unsafe driving environment for motorists.