Recently a letter was sent to the editor of the Oregon Observer, from a local Girl Scout Troop. This letter is a good reminder to us all, why leaves must stay in the terrace and not raked in the street.
Please Keep Your Leaves Out of the Street
As Brownie Girl Scouts we took a “journey” last year called, “Wonders of Water”. We learned all about water conservation and pollution. Now that it is Fall, we are concerned as we see many of our neighbors in Oregon are raking their leaves directly into the streets. Did you know that this is not only against the rules in our Village, but also bad for our lakes?
The village has rules about leaf pickup that can be found on the Village website. One of these rules says that if you want your leaves picked up then, “Leaves shall be raked into the terrace area and not in the street and shall be piled or windrowed in the terrace area”. We learned that leaves contain nutrients that fertilize algae, which and turn our lakes green. When leaf piles sit in the street, wind and rain carry them to storm drains and eventually into lakes and streams. Rain seeping through leaf piles creates a rich “nutrient tea” that flows along the curb and into storm drains, even if leaves themselves don’t move and inch!
We also learned that it is a good idea to compost leaves. That is what our Village does with the leaves after vacuuming them up. Composted leaves make a great fertilizer and good to use as mulch in gardens and around trees. Also, mulching leaves on your lawn can replace one fertilizer application each year.
Please “Love Your Lakes, Don’t Leaf Them” and rake your leaves out of our streets! For more information about how to protect our lakes, visit “myfairlakes.com”. We’d also like to thank all of you for supporting Girl Scouts by buying our cookies! Girl Scouting is celebrating it’s 100th year in 2012!
-4th Grade Junior Girl Scout Troop #2140, Oregon, WI
To learn more about the rules and regulations in Waunakee please visit our online Municipal Code.