HomeMy Public PortalAboutYard Waste BrochureLaws
MSD.MainteriOnCe
Yard waste that r# sw ept Int o lots and catch basins
belles up and c ars ctoMike storm drains and coos .
)tooling problems . This build up of yard w os a ccan
ma ke Jt dI 1cuijorth e dr airape sy3t em to carryaw ay
excelSIv@ a mo[Jr1f# of water er cturIrcj sic m3 ' ArrIldi ca n
lead 14) J1430Cled Streets
an€t basernisi nts.
storm warn drains et a
not fanctJon eV -l e rt*
more rr►afritan ance Is
ne ecled to cle an out
blockages and These.
cosh can be pasted of
to the arsrarr ier in th e
. Mrri of higher sewer
rates.
G ov erning
Yard Waste ,
The Federal Crea n Water Act mandate s that the
Count}; mun icipak ies anal MSCI Fake steps to prev ent
pollution of storm water runoff
Missouri ate raw ban s the disposal of yard waste
ii andJ9h�s.
Saint Lours County Waste Marragernen t Code and
Municipal ordinanc es prohibit the dumping of ya rd
waste.
rt Is un tawfuJ to dump yard waste into the storm
drain or creeks. To repo rt the improper disposal of
yard waste in the srornn drain or the cre ek contac t
the MetropoFrtan Scar District at (374J 745@-624511
C ommunity Resources
C ontact yo ur l ocal wast e ha ul er fur yard
waste pink up services .
6 Co ntact your murfiadp alr!y fbr a recy cling
cent er in y our are a.
ILN For a fisti ng of Co unty residential
r@cycJfr]a centers call th e. Sai nt Lo uis
Cou nty Waste b 4a n❑gom ent Hotli ne at
(314) 286-920144x ossisfa nce.
Remember No JD umpTrlcl
Only Rah to th e St orm Drai n
ivietro poitran I. Lo uis Sewer Dfsfrtct
DMklon of Errylro nnrie nthorl Co mplraince
T C it c1 M D CtleCtriler SONO x JI
(i4) 70, 119.62450
or OW worsPro + IA
Conten t bw Joyce. iheorcr
Drt*Iin land 6r oblcs by DIM ti+Rkrert
Cower phdro Ceur le pQfJohn 6Uodu noj7n
Yojd jojte
and our
Environmeit
[Metropolitan St_ Louis Sewer District
Dkl you know to Y ard
mate, such as J@ tsar gr dsa
drippings, weeds, prunings,
brow, card smcN twigs that
are n atu rally jburtid 'ar ound
the home , are disposed of
along a creek or trr the Storm
dre Jn PP can impa ct -
Wate r C uaJtly
Yard) wash de ca ying in c ree Jis and rf vers
de co mpo se s in a pro ds tha t rernove s oxygen
fro m the wate r. Fish an d o ther a qu atic Ire can't
su rvive fin water with r aw o xygen . As yard waste
de co mpo se s, plan t nu trie nts such os nitro gen
a nd pho spho ru s Ore a tso re l ose ai The se
n utrien ts pra ms the ex Iv ' growth of atgae
fn the wv te r As the wate r be co mes po lluted. Jt
do es no t su ppo rt aqu atic . life am id be comes
hea lTh. hazard
Erosio n
Lea ves a nd woo dy de bris n crturraJryaccumurate in
strea ms an d cree ks. Ho weve r, when you co llect
a nd dJspo .se of ya rd wa sh along cree k ban ks,. the
a dde d yard waste cove rs the ground and kee ps
o ut the n atural ve getation that he lps to sta bilize
the ban k This practice leads to in crea se d e ro sion
a nd se dimen tation that clouds cm:41 wate r
a nd de stroys ha bitatfw a qu atic Imo. impro pe r dis-
posal of yard waste Incre o es the accu mulation
of de bris'whic h to tu rn can Jecid to blo ckages that
rn hlhtt pro pe r draina ge . Altho ugh it is common
for so me ho meo wne rs to dispo se of yard wa ste
a long cree k ban ks' i is no t a goo d pra t ice _
Onsite Opti ons
CompoSling
is an ealF»r inewerisrve
and nalural way to dfspose
l'eaves, tr ee to rr sr dna
brush. Compost carp be used as
j'brillizer around' the yam, v+i11C i
reckices the ric .c.cr for chef door Milkers
that carp conrcirdn othe storm waler runoff dr airgng
into creeris and rim Spreacifny compost around
bushes and jto cs helps the soli re rer dlrp m oisture
and control's weeds This means Tess watering. bss
use of herbis and tower cols.
111.1.111.
remos iwimpremenomprionrumgeoPmmimi
What can YOU do
to prevent yard wastelr orrr
polluti ng our waiter?
�. Ne ver a[l ow yard w aste to be w ash ed dow n
or put i nto th e st ory-' drai ns_
Water Sparingly
Do no t ave r wa ter th@ lawn, or garde n. O ver -
wa fe ring ma y inc re ase reaching of fdrtiiizers
to groun d a ryl su rfa ce wate r When y our r ow's
or ga rden nee ds wa te ring,. use &ow -wat eri ng
techn iques su ch as tric kle Irriga tion or s oaker
ho se s. Su ch de vice s redu ce runo ff. an d am mare
effe ctiv e than sprin klers.
. Do not swe ep or bl ow grass crippi ngs al ong
the stre et or i nfo a st orm drai n..
,,, Do not d ump grass or y ard w aste ont o a
creek ba nk or are a v,rtrer e it MD be w ashed
i nto cracks and rivers.
, Co ntr ol s oil erosi on on y our pr op erty by
pl anti ng nari ve tr ees and gr ound co ver to
st abilize er osion -pr om are as_
C omp ost y our le aves, bru sh, grass c+ippi ngs
and oth er y ard w aste_
US G ti C omm unity Res ourc es" id entifi ed
on th e b ack sid e of this broch ur e fo r fUrfh e r
assist anc e.
Tag er Grass
M ow gr ass high er and l eap grass clippings
ors the law n to r et ain moist ure and provide
nutri ents to the c oif as they d ec omp ose_
'Whe n you m ow . s et the bl ad es to c ut th e
gross tw o or three inches high Most grasses
are he althiest at this h eight and this als o
beips c ontr ol weeds` Als o, t alli er gr ass al ong
storm w ater drai nage ar eas helps fall er
runoff and stabilize s oil bett er with de ep er
roots.