By Staff
November 9th, 2020
BURLINGTON, ON
The City of Burlington’s revamped loose-leaf collection program started today – Monday, November 9th.
Clearing the leaves along New Street.
Residents are encouraged to check the leaf collection schedule and rake leaves to the curb or edge of pavement if there are no curbs before their pickup date.
Each collection zone will have only one pick-up.
Leaf collection zones for 2020
Residents planning on using the service are reminded that this program is weather dependent. Freezing rain or snow can cause delays or even cancel the program. Always be prepared to bag your leaves for Halton Region’s Yard Waste Pick-up or mulch them to help your lawns and gardens grow.
New for this year is the Leaf Collection Hotline. As of October 15th, residents can call 905-335-7600, ext. 6129 for updates. If the collection is delayed or cancelled, the hotline will be updated and messages will be posted on burlington.ca/leafcollection as well as the City’s social media channels.
To ensure the safety of collection crews and avoid damaging equipment, please keep the loose-leaf piles free of debris and sticks. Leaves mixed with debris and waste will not be collected. Please help prevent flooding by keeping catch basins and ditches clear of leaves.
To ensure a successful pick-up, residents can:
• Rake leaves to the edge of the curb or roadway in a loose pile
• Remove basketball nets, cars and other obstructions from the road during pick-up dates
• Clear leaves from sidewalks and walkways
• Avoid placing garbage bags, bins, blue boxes or green carts on top of loose-leaf piles
• Give crews room to remove the leaves when driving
After the collection program is complete, any remaining leaves should be placed in yard-waste bags for curbside collection by Halton Region.
As a greener alternative, residents can mulch their leaves with their lawnmower to help feed the soil for the spring.
Mary Battaglia, Director of Roads, Parks and Forestry
Mary Battaglia, Director of Roads, Parks and Forestry explains that: “This year’s collection program is a little different. We’re hoping that by starting the collection one week later, that more leaves will have fallen and by ending one week earlier, we’ll avoid winter weather. We can’t control the weather so if we get an early storm or if the trees hold onto their leaves, residents should be prepared to bag or mulch their leaves.”
Climate Emergency Council put on their thinking caps this time around . Donning their green caps searching for fallen leaves and ways to blow the budget
You can also pile leaves onto your flower beds and along fences to provide burrowing for insects and small animals during the winter months and use as compost in the spring.
Re: “We’re hoping that by starting the collection one week later, that more leaves will have fallen” – On my planet that doesn’t make any sense at all.
The City may have lucked out this year. Thanks to the two very cold mornings 10 days ago, the leaf-fall here in South Burlington has been heavy during the past week. By the 23rd when my neighbourhood is scheduled to begin (a week early most years), all the leaves should be down. There will less for the snowplow to clean up this year.