5/18/2023 0 Comments Compost grass clippings![]() Does Leaving Too Much Grass Clippings on the Lawn Cause Thatch? Short story is, both are shooting straight from the hip when they urge us to let grass clippings lie. Could these outlaws be contributing to the dastardly thatch threatening to destroy their turf? Find out in this action-packed installment of EcoMyths.įirst, let’s tip our hats to today’s info-wielding heroes: Professor Peter Landschoot, PhD, who directs Penn State’s Center for Turfgrass Science, and Aaron Patton, PhD, a professor of agronomy at Purdue University and Purdue Turf Tips blogger. It’s time for a showdown…between law-abiding homeowners and the grass clippings running rampant on their lawns. What Happens When You Leave Grass Clippings on the Lawn? They’re not being hauled anywhere, and the practice provides many side benefits, described below.īut what about the problem of thatch, and the health of our lawns? ![]() The best option – environmentally and for us personally – is to just “dispose of” the grass clippings by simply mulching as we mow, and letting them decompose naturally, in place. The Very Best Way to Dispose of Grass Clippings Just be sure to find out where they dump it – you want it disposed of in an envirnomentally safe way. Or, you can sign up with a hauling service. You do need to transport your lawn clippings there, of course. Most medium-sized cities have municipal or county facilities that offer free recycling or composting services. If you don’t have one, and can’t get one, you can always take your grass clippings to your local yard waste disposal center. Your best bet for dumping yard waste is your compost bin. We’ll (shortly) discuss much, much better alternatives to dumping grass clippings. Of course, if you’re a backyard composter, you’ve already got a great, beneficial place to dispose of those grass clippings! Where To Dump Grass Clippings? Still, this is a vast improvement over disposing of grass clippings in the trash. However, curbside composting of grass clippings does require that trucks haul the lawn waste to composting facilities. They don’t end up taking up space in the landfill, we don’t overburden the landfills, the clippings don’t generate greenhouse gases as they decay, and the compost is actually used by farmers in place of chemical fertilizers.Īn added benefit is the reduction in chemical fertilizer runoff, and the substantial water pollution problems that creates. If curbside composting is offered in your area, that’s a much better way to dispose of your grass clippings than throwing them in the garbage. In addition, grass clippings, like all plant waste, decay in landfills, and produce methane in the process, significantly contributing even more to the air pollution problem, and speeding up climate change. The landfills are already overflowing, necessitating digging new ones ever further away from the cities they serve, and requiring even more air polluting trash hauling miles. For many reasons, this is a really bad option. where you can still toss your grass clippings in your regular garbage bin, to be hauled off to the landfill. There are several options, depending on where your live.Īs we mentioned above, there are still some places in the U.S. So What are My Options For Getting Rid of My Grass Clippings? ![]() ![]() So, chances are very good that you can no longer legally put grass clippings, or any other yard waste, in your garbage bin. Many counties and municipalities also ban grass clippings in the garbage, where their states don’t specifically ban them. These additional states only allow grass clippings in the garbage if it’s going to a landfill with gas collection systems: Florida, Georgia, Iowa, and Nebraska. According to, as of June 2021, all these states have banned yard debris from landfills (so, your grass clippings from the garbage): Arkansas, Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, West Virginia, and Wisconsin. Well, you used to be able to just throw your grass clippings in the garbage, like most Americans did for generations, but it’s changing more and more. ![]()
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