When Mother Nature has allowed it, Coquitlam residents have been tending to their front yards in preparation for warmer months ahead.
Those dedicated individuals producing lots of grass trimmings have one more week to leave out as much as they can as part of a spring seasonal program.
For six weeks, the city has provided its unlimited curbside service for local homeowners to properly dispose their yard waste.
The final day for this year's collection is set for next Friday (May 13).
"Since the program started, the amount of yard waste material collected has doubled to almost 550 tonnes per year," explains Shannon Hadley, Coquitlam's solid waste and special projects manager.
"All of the collected material is brought to the city’s green waste processing contractor and, along with green cart material, is turned into compost that can be used for gardens and lawns."
The material can be set out on each neighbourhood's weekly green-cart collection day as early as 5:30 a.m, with trucks picking up the spring trimmings between 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m.
The rules for participating homeowners who receive garbage and green cart collection are as follows:
- Place all food scraps in the city-issued green cart only
- Food scraps can not be placed in kraft bags or in labelled yard trimming cans
- Ensure each bag, can or bundle of extra yard trimmings weighs less than 44 pounds
- Don't block sidewalks, laneways or streets with yard trimmings
- Don't include sod, rocks, soil and plastic bags; they are not accepted
- Be aware of fines that may apply as per the city's solid waste bylaw, if a cart is set out before 5:30 a.m.
The city says there are several options for residents to leave out their yard waste, including:
- Use garbage cans labelled with yard trimmings stickers or kraft paper bags
- Yard Trimmings stickers are free and available for pick up from the Engineering counter at Coquitlam City Hall or from the City Centre and Poirier Public libraries
- Bundle and tie branches that are less than three inches in diameter and no more than three feet in length
For more information, you can visit the yard trimmings page of the City of Coquitlam website.
