The annual hassles of clearing leaves

James Dunne noticed the leaves of his Conshohocken neighbors piled along the street last Wednesday, grabbed his leaf blower, and for two hours played his small part in the massive recycling project that has become as much a part of autumn around here as apples, pumpkins, and scarecrows.

The sizable mounds of leaves in front of his neighbor's houses underscored the obvious: The large, old trees - many oak and hickory - that shade his development in summer exact a price in October and November.

"The township will come to pick them up tomorrow - unless the wind comes and blows them all back on my yard again," said Dunne, 56.

For Dunne, the ritual gathering of the leaves is as unavoidable as it is annoying.

Under Act 101 - Pennsylvania's Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling, and Waste Reduction Act, which went into effect in 1990 - more than 140 towns in the region must collect leaves as part of their recycling programs.

Since Act 101 implicitly made leaf-burning or dumping leaves into the trash illegal - leaves must be recycled separately - trucks throughout the region are prowling the streets looking to devour leaf piles.

And there are plenty of leaves to recycle. Based on 2003 data from the U.S. Forest Service, Philadelphia and its four adjacent Pennsylvania counties have roughly six million trees with about five billion leaves. Together, they would blanket Rhode Island.

This state is not called "Penn's Woods" for nothing.

During leaf collection season in Plymouth Township, Montgomery County - late October through early December - five bright orange trucks are sent out to survey the area each Wednesday. Each truck contains a team of three men - one man driving, one raking leaves, and one holding the massive hose that sucks up the leaves.

When the rear loader is full, the men return to the township building to dump the load in the compost pile.

Since the institution of Act 101, 475 mandated communities in Pennsylvania have instituted leaf recycling programs, said Todd Pejack, the environmental group manager at the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection.

But there are more than 1,000 recycling programs in the state, he said, which indicate that non-mandated communities also participate.

On Friday, retired Norristown resident Bill Lesher got his raking in just before the rain came. Norristown vacuums its leaves, so Lesher moved his out to the curb for pickup.

And he has a system. Lesher said he first blows the leaves into rows. Then he rakes them onto a tarpaulin and drags them to the pickup pile.

The amount of leaves are partly his own fault, Lesher said. He planted oak trees back in the 1970s for the shade and privacy they provide. He did not consider the leaves back then.

But he said he doesn't mind raking, and he even offered a tip as a gust of wind sent some leaves from his pile back across his lawn.

"Always rake with the wind," he said.

Throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania, leaf collection varies. Some municipalities collect leaves curbside, while others offering drop-off locations. Common among Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, and Delaware Counties is turning the collected leaves into compost, which is then offered free to residents as mulch.

In Philadelphia, the Streets Department is expected to resume leaf collection this week for the first time in five years after a 2008 budget cut ended it. The city also plans on turning the leaves into compost.

In Upper Merion, Montgomery County, the public works department starts collecting leaves during the last week of October and continues until the last weekend before Christmas. Bill Schutter, the manager of the Parks and Shade Tree Maintenance Division, said the local municipalities bring their leaves to the Upper Merion composting facility for a fee.

When the collection is over, operators will begin turning the leaves to create compost.

In Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, a leaf drop-off site located in Malvern is available for homeowners and contractors with permits. J. Dean Wilkins, director of Tredyffrin's Public Works Department, said many residents have landscapers who will dispose of leaves in the woods.

Wayne resident Susan Mogel, 55, hauled her leaves to the Malvern drop-off site on a recent rainy Saturday. She said she appreciated the township's efforts to stay green by having this site, but she would prefer a leaf collection service.

"As a single person living alone, I have to do it all myself," Mogel says of the raking and bagging and dumping.

Wilkins said a drop-off site may be less convenient than a pickup service, but more manpower - and money - would be needed for a pickup.

In Plymouth Township, which has curbside collection, the process is slow, said Chris Loschiavo, Plymouth Public Works director. With 31 miles of township roads, 17 miles of state roads and five trucks traveling at 1 m.p.h. during the collection, the department can pick up leaves three or four times from the final weeks of October to the first week of December.

The process of collecting and then dumping the leaves is repeated two or three times on leaf collection days, Loschiavo said.

Loschiavo said Plymouth Township was at an advantage compared to other municipalities that outsource recycling to third parties. With all its own facilities on site, Loschiavo said, the township can tailor its programs to the community's needs.

Back in Conshohocken, James Dunne's complaints have nothing to do with his township. It's all about Mother Nature.

With bugs flying into his face as he blows the leaves to the curb - and with more leaves yet to fall - Dunne jokes that he doesn't have any sons to help him in his constant battle with nature.

"It's something," he said as a few more leaves floated off a nearby tree, "you know you just have to deal with."

2,200

tons of leaves collected in 2013 in Upper Merion.

1,450

tons collected in 2013 in Plymouth Township

$1,889

cost of one day's collection by one Upper Merion crew.

42%

drop in trash disposal costs today in Plymouth Township from 2007 costs due to recycling.

6,000

cubic yards of leaves dropped in 2013 at the Tredyffrin site.EndText

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