(Silver City, NM, 21 November, 2013) The leaves that fall from your trees are too valuable a resource to get buried in the landfill. Please put them to good use. Please put only leaves in your bags, no trash, and take them to either Southwest Solid Waste Authority or The Volunteer Center.

Southwest Solid Waste Authority will be diverting your fall leaves from the landfill. Bring your bags of leaves to the landfill at 318 S. Ridge Road. At the scale house they will direct you to the drop off location for your leaves. The leaves will be used in a composting project underway at San Vicente Farms just south of town. This will be the second year for this program. Last year about six tons of leaves were diverted from the landfill and used for composting and mulch. Diverting organic matter from the landfill will extend the life of the landfill and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The Public Works Department for the Town of Silver City will pick up leaves, as their schedule allows, from residents unable to take their leaves to the landfill, They can be contacted at 388-4640.

Leaves can also be dropped off at The Volunteer Center for their community garden. Take your bags of leaves to their new facility, The Commons, at 518 East 13th Street. They will be accepting a limited amount of leaves to place on the garden over the Winter as mulch and then tilled into the soil in the Spring. Please drop off your bags of leaves just inside of the fence. For more information you can contact The Volunteer Center at 388-2988.

You can also use leaves in your own yard. If you have a mulching mower, just make several passes over the leaves on your lawn and they will become a natural fertilizer. They can be used as mulch for your flower or garden beds. Leaves also make a great addition to a compost pile if you do backyard composting. Compost is a terrific soil amendment that will benefit your garden or landscape plants. There are two resources for information about how to set up your own backyard compost pile.  The brochure “Backyard Composting Made Easy” is available online at the New Mexico Environment Department at http://www.nmenv.state.nm.us/swb/compostingmulch.htm. New Mexico State University Extension service publication H-110 “Backyard Composting” is also available online at http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/. For additional information call the Town of Silver City Office of Sustainability at 575-519-8987.