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Did you know about 30% of our discards are yard and food waste? Don't give your fall leaves and worn-out jack-o-lanterns to the garbage truck this year. Compost them at home or mulch them through a local leaf collection program. By turning your leaves and pumpkins into compost, rich nutrients are placed back into the soil for future growing seasons. Composting organic materials also prevents global warming by avoiding potent methane emissions from landfills and sequestering carbon in our soils. Learn more about the climate, environmental and economic benefits of composting>>
Click below on the name of your town for collection dates and locations. Residents of unincorporated Boulder County can use the Boulder County/City of Boulder Yard Waste Drop-off Center.
Learn how to use leaves as mulch to protect your yard and garden.
 Boulder
Leaves and pumpkins will be collected at three locations in Boulder for five Saturdays only:
October 25, November 1, November 8, November 15, November 22
Leaves will be collected from 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
The collection sites are:
- North Boulder Park parking lot (8th & Dellwood)
- South Boulder Rec Center-Park (1360 Gillaspie Dr.-- south parking lot next to Viele Lake)
- Western Disposal Brickyard Site (5900 Butte Mill Rd.; turn south at first light east of 55th and Valmont, and follow signs).
Only pumpkins and leaves will be accepted. No trash, branches, limbs, or grass.
Yard waste can be taken year-round to the Boulder County/City of Boulder Yard Waste Drop-off Center.
For more information visit the City of Boulder Environmental Affairs or call 303-441-4204.
Broomfield
From October 17 to November 30 only, the Eco-Cycle/Broomfield Recycling Center will accept leaves and pumpkins for composting. Materials WILL NOT be accepted at any other time.
Please remove all branches, candles, plastic bags, strings and metal objects before placing your leaves and pumpkins into the special collection bin. Residents can also pick up free woodchips, subject to availability. Call 303-404-2839 for more information.
Lafayette
The Lafayette Public Works Dept. will accept leaves, pumpkins and branches at the City Service Center, 1700 Avalon, on Fridays and Saturdays from October 3 through November 22.
Hours: Fridays, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.; Saturdays, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m.
NO dumping outside these hours. If you bring your materials in plastic bags, you must empty your bags and take them home with you.
Proof of residency is required--current drivers license or state ID and recent utility bill.
Longmont
The City of Longmont features special curbside leaf collections from October 13 – December 5. Residents must place leaves out at the curb by 7 a.m. on the Monday morning of the week of their collection. Click here for collection schedules. Free compostable bags for the leaf collection are available (after Oct. 6) at the Senior Center, Memorial Building, Civic Center Information Booth, Recreation Center, Museum and Cultural Center, Library, Public Works Maintenance Facility and the Tree Limb Diversion Center. For more information, call the City of Longmont Public Works at (303) 651-8416 or check out the City’s Curbside Leaf Program.
Residents can dispose of loose leaves (no bags or trash) at the Tree Limb Diversion Center at 140 Martin St. A City of Longmont utility bill and corresponding ID are required or a fee will be charged. The Center is open between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., seven days a week (closed holidays). Leaves are mixed with mulch at the site and mulch is available to residents at no charge, subject to availability.
Pumpkins will be accepted in the designated bin at the Eco-Cycle/Longmont Drop-off Center from October 29 through November 10. Please remove all candles, plastic bags and metal objects from pumpkins.
Louisville
Louisville residents have three options for leaf collection:
Old Town Vacuum Leaf Collection
- Residents of Old Town (see map) can rake leaves to the curb until November 17. City crews will vacuum up the leaves for composting, beginning at South Boulder Road and working south.
Bagged Leaf Collection: October 20 - November 3
- All residents of Louisville (except Old Town) can place leaves at the curb in compostable bags between October 20 and November 3. ONLY COMPOSTABLE BAGS WILL BE ACCEPTED. Compostable bags are available for purchase at Lowes, Albertsons, Home Depot and King Soopers.
Leaf Drop-off: October 17 - November 21
- Wastewater Treatment Plant: 1601 Empire Road, open daily, 7 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
- Warembourg Fishing Pond Parking Lot: Cherry Street, just east of Heritage Park
- North Lift Station: East side of Centennial Drive, in the 2100 block, north of Safeway
- Harper Lake Parking Lot: McCaslin Boulevard and Washington Avenue
- Gateway Lane: McCaslin Boulevard and South Boulder Road - east end of cul-de-sac
- Recreation Center: 900 Via Appia - south end of the parking lot
- Louisville Community Park: East entrance off County Rd., north of Bella Vista Drive
- Lincoln Ave. and Griffith St.: Open area on northwest side
- Memory Square Park: At dead end just south of the intersection of Walnut St. and Grant Ave.
If you collect your leaves in plastic bags, please dump leaves at the site and reuse the bags.
Visit the city of Louisville’s website or call the Operations Division at 303-335-4750 for more information.
Superior
The Superior Yard Waste Drop-off site, located on Honey Creek Lane by the Wastewater Treatment Plant, will be open its normal hours through November 12.
Residents can bring their leaves to this site until Nov 12. The hours of operation are Wednesdays, 4 p.m.-7 p.m. and Saturdays, 8 a.m. - 12 p.m. and 1 p.m - 5 p.m. Call 303-554-9005 for more information.
Mulching Tips
Before you go to all the trouble of raking, bagging and shipping your leaves off your property, you might want to save yourself some time and money by keeping them as a mulch you can use to bed down your plants and trees for a long winter's nap. Leaves are a soil nutrient you don't have to go buy, Mother Nature delivers them to your door free of charge to create a habitat for microorganisms that will slowly digest the leaves and make their valuable nutrients available to the soil. Mulching protects soil and plant roots from temperature extremes and greatly reduces evaporation of soil moisture. A little mulch this winter can help suppress weed growth next spring and summer.
Any open ground, whether it is an unplanted bed or underneath trees, shrubs, or other plants can benefit from mulching year-round.
Dan Matsch, Eco-Cycle's compost expert, suggests some simple application methods for mulch:
- Rake it and leave it. Rake the leaves from your lawn directly under the canopy of your perennial trees and shrubs or directly onto beds, to a depth of about 6 inches. Moisten thoroughly to settle them in and protect them from the wind. Leave them there all year; they'll be almost gone when it's time to re-apply. Limiting factors are exposure to high winds, the amount of twigs in rakings, and the degree to which bindweed is a problem (bindweed loves loose mulch).
- Put the news to use. To increase weed suppression, put down a layer of newspaper at least one "section" thick (after moistening the soil). Immediately wet the newspaper, then rake and moisten the leaves. The newspaper increases weed suppression in areas where weeds (including bindweed) are a problem.
- Get the kids rolling. If your trees shed a lot of twigs along with the leaves, it's best to run your rakings through a chipper/shredder before use as mulch. A chipper/shredder can also be useful for reducing the size of leaves in high wind areas to create a denser mat. If you don't have access to one, you can rake dry leaves up into a tarp and then roll the tarp up into a big sausage. Got kids? Make them earn their keep by having them roll over the top of the leaf sausage several times to crunch the leaves down.
Updated October 2008
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