Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 5, 1993 TAG: 9305050116
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-4 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: JOE HUNNINGS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
We are covering ourselves with solid wastes.
Yard wastes - grass clippings, leaves and other plant debris - make up a significant proportion of the total waste stream, particularly at this time of the year.
The increasing costs involved with disposing of these organic
"wastes" is being felt now in our back pockets.
Our kids will face the hidden costs of pollution risks and the difficulty of finding new landfill sites as current landfills fill up so rapidly.
Many of us are participating in recycling programs for newspaper, glass, aluminum, etc.
But are you as conscientious about yard wastes?
Yard wastes in the United States work out to about 230 pounds per person per year.
Food wastes add another 100 pounds per person per year.
For the New River Valley, this comes to a total of 25,192 tons per year.
Composting
Composting is a simple, easy and interesting technique for turning a liability into an asset.
Composting transforms organic wastes into a soil-like material. Compost can enrich the soil used for gardens, lawns and house plants.
Composting offers people an opportunity to contribute to, and benefit from, part of the solid-waste solution.
Potential benefits of composting include lower waste-disposal costs, a convenient way to handle wastes and a free soil amendment that will increase the health, productivity and beauty of the landscape. Home composting should be an important part of every community's solid-waste solution.
Grass clippings
A few bags of grass clippings placed at the curb each week for the waste haulers to pick up may seem fairly harmless, but when all the bags from across a county are added together, the amount can be staggering.
During the lawn-growing season, in some neighborhoods as much as 50 percent of the garbage bags contain grass clippings.
Consider not bagging your grass.
Using proper lawn-management practices, you won't have to stop every 10 minutes to empty your mower bag. By leaving the clippings on the lawn and allowing them to work their way into the soil you will produce a beautiful green lawn.
Frequent mowing and evenly distributing the clippings can provide the nitrogen equivalent to one fertilizer application.
Contrary to popular opinion, leaving grass clippings on the lawn does not contribute to thatch buildup. If thatch levels already are excessive they can be reduced by top-dressing the lawn with compost.
`Don't Bag It' program
If you would like to learn more about composting or proper lawn care practices, you're invited to attend an educational program sponsored by the Montgomery County Cooperative Extension office and Blacksburg.
Town residents will be eligible for door prizes such as compost bins, tools and lawn fertilizer.
The program will be held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Blacksburg Community Center on Patrick Henry Drive.
Joe Hunnings is the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service agent for agriculture in Christiansburg. If you have questions call the Montgomery County extension office at 382-5790.
by CNB