Make full use of the leaves that fall every Autumn

Bristol has many trees in parks, on estates and beside the roads. In the Autumn the leaves from all the deciduous trees fall to the ground. The leaves in paks and on estates can be left where they land to create compost and mulch for the trees. Creatures live in this leaf litter. Trees that grow beside the roads drop their leaves in Autumn and create several problems when they do so. The pavements become covered in leaves and are very slippery when wet or in icy conditions. The leaves by the side of roads block drains causing flooding if the drains are not kept free from leaves. My idea is that the council apply for funding to buy special leaf collecting machines to be used every Autumn. With a team of wildlife / local volunteers the machines could then be used to 'hoover' up the leaves very quicky on a daily basis until the leaves have all fallen. The leaves can then be composted for local use instead of causing problems. The volunteers could be trained in the same way as the snow wardens in the use of the machines. Community areas can created to take and compost them for local use. It would prevent all the important nutrients in the leaves being wasted.

Why the contribution is important

Flooding is a real problem in many cities especially at this time of year and it is made worse by the annual leaf fall. (Parts of Pembrokeshire were flooded recently and council workers were sent out ot try to clear the drains.) Working together to help use the leaves can bring local communities together with a sense of purpose.

by user761526 on November 21, 2013 at 05:18PM

Current Rating

Average rating: 4.3
Based on: 10 votes

Comments

  • Posted by user734334 November 23, 2013 at 14:24

    This is a great idea that has also been suggested by someone else.

  • Posted by user122507 November 23, 2013 at 19:26

    Great idea! Also could the council think of selling logs or wood chippings when the chop down or prune trees?

  • Posted by user536903 November 25, 2013 at 12:13

    Guess some one else have similar idea of Bristol Compost..

  • Posted by user796082 November 26, 2013 at 14:15

    This hoovering would I imagine be very noisy. Do we need to add to the noise in Bristol that is already rated as one of the noisiest cities in Britain

  • Posted by user920528 December 17, 2013 at 23:13

    Bristol already collects and composts its leaves. They are also delivered to allotment sites for the use of gardners.

  • Posted by user412750 December 20, 2013 at 17:54

    Ideax says that this is already done. It is, but I don't know if it is done throughout the city. If it isn't, it should be. And leaves should be delivered somewhere local to their origin, to cut unnecessary road journeys.

    About 4 years ago, the brilliant site rep on our allotment site persuaded the council to deposit in our site the fallen leaves from the park next to the allotments, so that allotmenteers could use them to improve soil quality. It took a few years to get it working well, but this year we have had a brilliant supply of leaves.

    It's a win-win, as now the contractors aren't wasting time and fuel transporting the leaves to Avonmouth (from central Bristol) which they were before.

    And some people use the leaves really creatively too. They can be mixed with grass cuttings, put under a mulching sheet or similar, and they then provide a safe and warm place for slow worms - great predators of slugs - and thus also supporting wildlife.
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