{"id":2205,"date":"2020-10-28T11:48:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T15:48:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/?p=2205"},"modified":"2020-10-28T11:49:58","modified_gmt":"2020-10-28T15:49:58","slug":"keep-leaves-out-of-the-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/2020\/10\/28\/keep-leaves-out-of-the-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Keep Leaves Out of The Lake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"text-indent: 0em;\">As the autumn leaves fall, the Lake Hopatcong Commission offers the following reminders to homeowners within the watershed on how to properly dispose of leaves and vegetative waste. \u00a0 Leaves should never be blown or raked directly into Lake Hopatcong. \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"text-indent: 0em;\">Although some may think it is silly to worry about any single home&#8217;s impact on the lake, in reality it is the cumulative effect of\u00a0everyone working together for the health of our lake that makes a difference. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 1\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 1\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\">\n<p>Leaves are organic and consist of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus.\u00a0 These are exactly the same components that help aquatic plants and algae thrive in our lakes.\u00a0When leaves fall off trees and decay, they release those nutrients back into the environment. <span style=\"text-indent: 0em;\">Organic material such as leaves take a long time to decompose at the bottom of the lake where low oxygen levels slow down the decomposition. \u00a0S<\/span><span style=\"text-indent: 0em;\">everal inches of accumulated decomposing leaves turn into &#8220;muck&#8221; on the lake bottom. \u00a0<\/span><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Putting leaves in the water is like fertilizing our lake for next year\u2019s algae growth.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Please DO NOT:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Blow or rake leaves directly into Lake Hopatcong, nearby drainage ditches, streams, streets or storm drains.<\/li>\n<li>Pile leaves close to the lake where wind will likely carry leaves into the water.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Instead consider the following environmentally friendly options:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If you have lawn where the leaves fall, you can <strong>leave the leaves<\/strong> where they fall. \u00a0Leaves provide winter cover and insulation for pollinators and other important invertebrates. \u00a0If you can&#8217;t leave your whole lawn covered, consider allowing your planting beds to remain covered over the winter months. \u00a0For the remainder of your lawn you might consider\u00a0<strong>mulching the leaves in place<\/strong> with a power lawn mower.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Compost your leaves<\/strong>.\u00a0 This can be as simple as putting leaves into a pile. \u00a0Create your compost pile away from the lake and where leaves won\u2019t blow into the lake over the winter. \u00a0To speed the decomposition of the leaves into compost, you can use a compost bin or occasionally turn and water the area.\u00a0 This will eventually produce a beneficial soil additive that can be spread on lawn or garden areas.<\/li>\n<li>Allow your municipality\/county to\u00a0<strong>compost your leaves for you<\/strong>. \u00a0Each of the four municipalities around Lake Hopatcong offer vegetative waste pickup. \u00a0<strong>For information on your municipality see the list below.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"page\" title=\"Page 2\">\n<div class=\"layoutArea\">\n<div class=\"column\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong><u>Hopatcong<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Vegetative waste, including grass clippings and leaves, may not be disposed in the regular municipal solid waste collection. Leaves may be disposed of by placing them in biodegradable brown bags and transporting them to the municipal collection center or placing them curbside on dates designated by the Borough Administrator for collection. Brush or limbs will not be collected, but brush or limbs up to a four-inch diameter can delivered to the municipal collection center.<\/p>\n<p>The Borough of Hopatcong shall provide curbside collection of leaves during the months of <strong>APRIL <\/strong>and <strong>MAY <\/strong>and from <strong>OCTOBER 15th <\/strong>through <strong>DECEMBER 11th. <\/strong>Only <strong>LEAVES <\/strong>shall be accepted. Branches, twigs, grass clippings, rocks or other vegetative matter shall not be accepted. Leaves are required to be placed in biodegradable brown paper bags only. Leaves in proper bags as detailed above may be brought directly to the Hopatcong Recycling Center. Brush no wider than 4\u201d in diameter will be accepted at the recycling center. <strong>Hopatcong Residents can only utilize the recycling center. No contractors allowed. Must show proof of residency<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>For more information: <a href=\"https:\/\/hopatcong.org\/vertical\/sites\/%7BE641513E-DD40-4540-BC56-B52978BA2363%7D\/uploads\/CALENDAR_2020_pdf_version.pdf\">https:\/\/hopatcong.org\/vertical\/sites\/%7BE641513E-DD40-4540-BC56-B52978BA2363%7D\/uploads\/CALENDAR_2020_pdf_version.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Roxbury<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>All grass, brush, and leaves will be collected weekly, on your regular trash day, in either paper bags, containers (labeled as vegetative waste) or brush tied in bundles beginning the last week of March and ending the third week of December.<\/p>\n<p>Grass and leaves are collected curbside only in brown paper yard bags or clearly marked containers. A limit of 50 bags of leaves will be collected weekly during regularly scheduled collection times. Compost material in plastic bags will not be collected.<\/p>\n<p>Brush\/branches\u00a0must be<em>\u00a0tied\u00a0<\/em>in bundles &amp; less than 3 inches in diameter. Yard waste is collected on the same day as trash\/recycling. Grass, brush\u00a0and\u00a0leaves cannot be mixed together.<\/p>\n<p>Fore more information: <a href=\"https:\/\/roxburynj.us\/34\/Sanitation-Recycling\">https:\/\/roxburynj.us\/34\/Sanitation-Recycling<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Mount Arlington<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Vegetative Waste (Leaves and Grass Only):<\/strong>\u00a0Vegetative Waste may be in a trash can or container, or biodegradable paper bags (required by the Morris County Transfer Station). Paper bags may be purchased at Home Depot, Shop-Rite, etc. See Borough Newsletter\/Calendar for beginning and end dates.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>No Plastic Bags!<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><strong>CONTAINERS NO LARGER THAN 32 GALLONS.<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p data-wahfont=\"16\"><em>Please note that the schedule is subject to change. It is advisable that all waste is placed on the sidewalk by 5:00 a.m. on the day of pickup.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Fore more information: <a href=\"https:\/\/mountarlingtonnj.org\/departments\/utilities\/\">https:\/\/mountarlingtonnj.org\/departments\/utilities\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><u>Jefferson<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Vegetative Waste consists of grass, leaf and brush pick up. \u00a0Vegetative waste is picked up on Wednesdays beginning the first Wednesday in April (4\/1\/2020) and continues through the second Wednesday in December (12\/9\/2020). \u00a0Two bags or cans of grass, leaves or brush may be placed curbside for pickup on Wednesday. \u00a0Contractor will not pick up oversized landscaper barrels.<\/p>\n<p>For six weeks in the spring and six weeks in the fall residents may place and unlimited amount of vegetative waste to the curb for pick up. \u00a0After the six weeks is over, the contractor will pick up only two bags. \u00a0There is no vegetative waste pick up during the week of the Memorial Day, July 4<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0and Labor Day holiday.<\/p>\n<p>Fore more information: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jeffersontownship.net\/204\/Garbage-Collection\">https:\/\/www.jeffersontownship.net\/204\/Garbage-Collection<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the autumn leaves fall, the Lake Hopatcong Commission offers the following reminders to homeowners within the watershed on how to properly dispose of leaves and vegetative waste. \u00a0 Leaves should never be blown or raked directly into Lake Hopatcong. \u00a0Although some may think it is silly to worry about &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2205","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-environmental"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2205"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2208,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2205\/revisions\/2208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2205"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2205"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakehopatcongcommission.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2205"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}