Lawn Clippings Organic Waste Problem Statement Grass clippings

Lawn Clippings Organic Waste

Problem Statement • • Grass clippings cause water quality problems Organic waste add nutrients to the water Decaying algae leads to bacteria Aquatic life has to move out or die.

Importance of our Topic • We witness neighbors and lawn services blowing yard trash into our streets • We see clippings being washed down the street • We know that this decreases the dissolved oxygen level in our lakes

Storm Drains and Sewers • Storm drains and sewers are not the same thing • Storm drains are designed to route rain runoff into large pipes that lead directly to our lakes. • There's no treatment or filtering for water that runs through storm drains. Storm Drains

Problem Lawn Clippings in our Lakes • Bacteria in the lake decompose the clippings and use up more dissolved oxygen. • This is called eutrophication. • Aquatic life has to either move out or die.

Possible Solutions Mulching your grass

The Benefits of Mulching Leaving Clippings On The Lawn After Mowing • Clippings left on the lawn recycle nutrients • Clippings left on the lawn can increase the organic content of the soil and lead to • Increased earthworm activity. • Mulched lawns are more nutritious and healthy.

Mulching A ton of grass clippings • contains more than 1, 700 pounds of water. • Mulching saves one-third of your mowing time • Clippings left on the lawn do not cause thatch • Left clipping on the lawn saves space in landfills

Solution: Composting • Lawn clippings contain about 4% nitrogen, 0. 5 to 1% phosphorus and 1 to 2% potassium • All organic waste can be used • It makes nutrient rich soil • Compost piles can be started and maintained anywhere • Composting piles can be kept in trash cans

Solution: Rain Gardens • Rain gardens are small depressions between the lawn and lakes • This process does not deprive the lake of water because it still reaches the lake

Rain Gardens

Home for Our Rain Garden