OLDS — As they mow their lawn, the town is encouraging residents to leave the grass clipping on the lawn, rather than gathering them up and throwing them out.
Chief administrative officer Brent Williams made that statement during town council’s May 27 meeting.
“We do encourage residents to just leave the grass clippings on their lawn," Williams said, adding that doing so promotes moisture retention.
“That is not an answer a lot of people like to hear who either don’t have the equipment or don’t like the look of such grass clippings on their lawn, but that’s the direction we’re going in,” he said.
Williams said those who wish to clean up and bag their grass clippings can still do so.
“We do have the weekly green bin pickup,” he said. “Those can be disposed of in the regular garbage, if they’re mixed with municipal waste – general black bin waste for example – and the landfill will accept it.
“They will not accept grass clippings just as a separate bag. That goes against their licence.”
He said the grass clippings issue has been “fairly minimal in the grand scheme of things,” as most people have adapted to the new way of doing things or have taken advantage of the fact that green bins are now picked up on a weekly basis.
In a related matter, Williams said the uptake by residents of a new branch dump at the town’s Operations Centre on 70th Avenue has been “going slower than expected,” so town staff are considering cutting back the days and/or hours it remains open if usage doesn’t pick up.
“We are expecting of course that fall utilization to pick up, once the leaves start falling. But for now, it seems to be not that in demand,” he said.
