The leaves are falling, and the county is coming to take them away.
Arlington County’s leaf collection program is scheduled to start next week, eventually offering two ways for locals to rid their yards of leaves.
“We provide residents of the county opportunities to get rid of their leaves in an environmentally responsible way,” Solid Waste Bureau Chief Erik Grabowsky said in an informational video about the program (above).
Leaf bag collection begins on Monday. The county will collect full, biodegradable paper leaf bags the day after regular trash collection. The collection runs every weekday from Nov. 2 through Jan. 8, including all holidays except for Christmas and New Year’s Eve.
These biodegradable bags can be reused from last spring’s waste collection, purchased at hardware stores, or picked up from one of the following locations, while supplies last:
- Aurora Hills Community Center, 735 18th St. S.
- Courthouse Plaza Information Desk, 2100 Clarendon Blvd.
- Lee Community Center & Park, 5722 Lee Highway
- Long Branch Nature Center, 625 S. Carlin Springs Rd.
- Lubber Run Community Center, 300 N. Park Dr.
- Madison Community Center & Park, 3829 N. Stafford St.
- Solid Waste Bureau, 4300 29th St. S.
- Thomas Jefferson Community Center, 3501 2nd St. S.
Vacuum leaf collection will begin the following week on Nov. 9, running every Monday through Saturday until Dec. 17, excluding Thanksgiving. Residents are asked to rake leaves into piles along the curb, making sure the pile only has leaves in it and is clear of cars and storm sewers.
The vacuum will make two passes in each neighborhood, scheduled based on when the leaves in each area will fall.
“We did an analysis of the types of trees in the county [because] the leaves from various types of trees will fall at different times,” Grabowsky explained. “We’ve tweaked the schedule a little bit so we think we’ve actually now optimized our collection program for vacuuming. We’re hoping this year is as successful as last year.”
Part of ensuring this success is giving at least one weekend’s notice before a vacuum collection. Yellow signs around a neighborhood will indicate the vacuum’s first pass, and orange signs will indicate the second.
There’s also a tentative vacuum schedule, an interactive progress map and a Listserv for email updates about which neighborhoods are next on the schedule.
“We try to be thorough and diligent to make sure we don’t miss anybody,” Grabowsky added.
More information about how to prepare for leaf collection is available on the county’s website.
Photo via DES