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Lawn clippings contribute to the 28% of organic waste that ends up in landfills.
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Editorial: When you mow, leave the grass. Seriously. 

Editorial: When you mow, leave the grass. Seriously. 

Anyone with a yard knows the pain of mowing, pruning, weeding and other forms of maintenance that are required to keep green space attractive and orderly. And as we head into summer, the sights and sounds of yard work become commonplace throughout Western Pennsylvania.

Aside from the nuisance of loud leaf blowers and weed whackers, there’s the matter of disposing grass clippings and other yard waste in a way that is both environmentally conscious and convenient. Most people bag their yard waste and set it out for regular trash collection, where it will end up in waste disposal sites. 

It might be worth considering a convenient alternative: grasscycling.

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As the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection notes, grasscycling is easy. Instead of raking (or blowing) and bagging, the PADEP encourages people to “simply leave the clippings on your lawn, where they break down in 7 to 14 days.” Within those two weeks, the grass clippings will become a beneficial fertilizer.

Doing it properly is simple, especially with a few tips. Don’t cut on especially wet days, and avoid leaving big mounds of clippings. Instead, it’s beneficial to spread the clippings out evenly to ensure the grass below stays healthy. For serious devotees, “mulch mowers” can make the process even faster. 

Grasscycling is healthier for lawns and healthier for the environment. When grass clippings and other yard wastes end up in landfills, they can’t do their work as beneficial fertilizers, and sometimes end up becoming greenhouse gasses themselves.

And when one considers that a 30-foot by 30-foot lawn can produce up to 500 pounds of yard waste in a year, grasscycling makes a significant impact in the amount of household waste Pennsylvanians generate.

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Other recommendations include turning old dry leaves and branches into mulch, as well as composting all organic waste. For those who care about the aesthetics of yard waste, compost bins can be easily purchased throughout the region, and provide an easy alternative for creating future fertilizer at home.

The City of Pittsburgh, which offers yard waste pickup twice a year, has declared its intentions to become a “Zero Waste” City by 2030. Various plans to deal with organic material, as well as pilot compositing projects, are currently underway via the Department of City Planning, Department of Public Works and Citiparks. Proper yard waste management can go a long way to help achieve these citywide goals.

We encourage anyone with a lawn to consider grasscycling. Sometimes walking away and letting nature take its course is the best thing to do.

First Published: June 8, 2024, 9:30 a.m.

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Lawn clippings contribute to the 28% of organic waste that ends up in landfills.
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