To: Rick Kriseman, Mayor
Mayor Kriseman: St. Petersburg should offer curbside yard waste pickup to its residents
Let’s reduce the yard waste that goes into our landfill by offering curbside yard waste pickup to city residents. Nationwide, hundreds of cities offer weekly curbside yard waste pickup, which makes it easier for their residents to keep their yard waste out of the landfill and get it to the city compost facility. St Petersburg should do the same.
Why is this important?
The EPA says that in the US in 2012, 65.3 million tons of recyclable materials were recovered from landfills. However, only 21.3 million tons of yard waste was recovered. In St. Petersburg, we generate a lot of yard waste, but disposing of it is difficult. Bagging and hauling dozens of bags of leaves every season to the city compost facility is a big job. Why not make it as easy as putting out a trash can once a week?