Keeping yards and gardens clean and green with the Yard Waste site

Rain and warm days equals gardening weather and our Yard Waste site heats up with business, too.

Here are some tips to using our popular location dedicated to helping you keep your yard and gardens clean, and make your lawn and gardens greener with Garden Green® compost.

• Brush vs. yard waste. It’s free to bring yard waste, such as grass clippings and leaves. You can just drive to the pile and drop it off. Brush is anything with a stem over ¼” and costs $10 per yard. If you have questions, stop by the gatehouse and our attendants will help you sort it out.
• How much is a yard? Well, it’s actually a cubic yard. That’s about what will fit in a medium-size pickup bed.
• Sod and dirt. It costs $8 per yard for households, and there’s a three-yard limit.
• Compost. We sell Garden Green® compost at the site. It’s $5 per bag, which has cubic foot in it. You can fill up the back of your pickup with bulk compost at $22 per yard if you shovel it, or $30 a yard if we load it.
• You can drop off food waste at the site, too. Make sure you have the proper compostable bags (look for the Biodegradable Products Institute logo).

We take cash, checks, Visa, Mastercard, and Discover cards.

It’s easy to use the site. Take the 27^th Street West exit off I-35 and turn left onto Courtland Street. Drive past our wastewater treatment facility and Household Hazardous Waste building and look for the signs.

You can just drop off the leaves and grass clippings at the pile just beyond the entrance. For anything else, or if you aren’t sure, just follow the signs around the entrance driveway and ask the attendant.

Our normal days of operation are 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday through Sunday except for the busy season, when we’re also open Thursdays and Sundays. Check www.wlssd.com to confirm the extra days before visiting us.

Bonus tip: If our MRC site on Rice Lake Road is more convenient, you can drop off yard waste and brush there, and also buy bagged Compost. It’s open Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Craig Lincoln, environmental programs coordinator