We are all committed to practising recycling and doing our part to protect the environment. However, very few of us consider recycling or reusing yard waste in either of those contexts. Yet, organic waste is really quite recyclable. Nearly everything and anything that grows in or above your home’s outdoor spaces can be reprocessed, repurposed, or upcycled. This includes almost everything that grows. In point of fact, there is no “greener” way to deal with waste and debris that is environmentally friendly.

Garden Waste Disposal: Think Green, Be Green

To begin, let’s get one thing straight: depending on where you live, the municipal waste management provider (that’s your garbage company!) may not accept organic green waste in their recyclables. This is something that we should make clear. Therefore, it is in your best interest to find out exactly what can and cannot be thrown away in each of those bins. Depending on where you live, some companies, or municipal organisations provide specialised recycling programme bins just for “green waste.” These bins can be used for recycling green waste. And exactly what does that entail?

For instance, the employees at WM, also known as Waste Management, provide some of their customers with the following guidelines regarding the types of waste materials that are acceptable:

• Grass & Weeds
• Green plants
• Tree limbs
• Chips of wood
• Dead plants
• Brush Garden trimmings
• Leaves

However, you are not allowed to dispose of non-organic waste in those bins. This includes earth and mud, rocks, cement and bitumen, as well as waste from painted or treated wood.

Additionally, it appears that certain organic waste items that are difficult to process are prohibited, such as woody stems “more than 5 feet in length, more than 15 centimeters in diameter, or weighing more than 22 kilograms.” Other prohibited items include palm tree limbs, plants, frozen plants, and large branches.

The good news is that if you have any of the aforementioned items that must be separated and discarded of in an appropriate manner, the team at your neighbourhood Kollect team in Dublin is ready and able to take care of that for you, so don’t worry about it. And with regard to the items of green waste that have been pointed out over here, if you’ve got more than you are able to deal with, we will also take care of that for you!

What should you do, then, with the “regular” amounts of garden waste that accumulate in your outdoor areas over the course of a year? When this occurs, it is beneficial to think about “recycling and reusing” yard waste rather than “collection and disposal” of garden waste.

The Phrases “Recycle, Reuse, and Reduce” Also Apply to Our Garden Waste

The things that we trimmed, snip, shave, gather up, and retrieve in our gardens, and other open areas can be used for quite a few different purposes. Utilizing a composting bin is one of the most straightforward approaches, and it is also becoming an increasingly common practise. While these are ideal for loading up with organic yard water, food scraps, and organic kitchen waste, they are also perfect for loading up with back garden water.

According to a segment that was printed in Family Handyman,

“The Environmental Protection Agency’s best and most fundamental piece of advice for backyard composting is to ensure that your ratios are accurate. Your recipe calls for greens, browns, and water as its three components. Greens include, but are not limited to, lawn clippings, flowers, leaves, grounds from coffee, and scraps of fruit and vegetables. Browns can be found in twigs, dead leaves, cardboard, and sawdust, to name a few examples. Composting is a straightforward approach to recycling yard waste and improving the condition of your outdoor space, despite the fact that it requires some routine maintenance, such as adding water and turning the pile.”

Composting is a “green two-fer,” meaning that it allows you to take care of both your biological garden waste and your kitchen waste at the same time, which is a great way to save some time and energy. Making mulch out of some of that garden waste can be another way to recycle and reuse some of that material.

You can make organic mulch out of all that cut lawn, fallen leaves, and small scraps of wood by combining them with other organic materials and spreading it around your potted plants and greenery. Mulch makes it difficult for pesky weeds to emerge, and the organic molecules help to maintain the ideal temperature and moisture level in your soil while also enriching it as they decompose. Mulch is a win-win.

And last but not least, there is the extremely straightforward activity that is known as “grasscycling.”

This is as easy as removing the grass clipping bag from your grass cutter and scattering the grass clippings around your yard after you have finished mowing. Recycling yard waste in this manner is not only quick and straightforward, but it also does away with the need to bag the waste and separate the clippings.

Do you maintain a significant number of trees on a consistent basis through pruning? If this is the case, you probably have a large number of old branches, some of which are quite large and measure more than 15 centimeters across. With a little bit of ingenuity and imagination, you can transform these materials into whimsical and functional garden furniture and decorations.

There is Still a “Green” Alternative in the Form of Calling Kollect for Excess Yard Waste.

There will often be more back garden waste and debris than can be effectively utilised by the many recycling and reuse endeavours that are being undertaken as part of your “green” initiative. We get it. Because of this, Kollect focuses its business on the removal and disposal of yard waste. But here’s the best part: as part of our very own “green initiative,” we reuse and recycle as much of anything we collect each day, including garden waste. This is something that we do on a routine and consistent basis. If it is possible to reuse, repurpose, or recycle it, we will make sure that it is done.