Mulching and composting benefit environment

By Mary Beth Almond
C & G Staff Writer

METRO DETROIT — As the leaves drift off the trees to form a blanket on the ground this fall, the Department of Environmental Quality is asking Michigan families to avoid burning them.

State officials say leaf burning creates air pollution and contributes to breathing problems, is a serious fire hazard and is even illegal in many communities.

Dr. Tony Bonfiglio of St. John Macomb Oakland in Madison Heights said the air pollution created from burning leaves can be very harmful to one’s health because it releases fine particles, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons into the air.

“When people burn leaves, the smoke you see is just tiny particles of ash, which you inhale right into your lungs. The ash, or the smoke itself, will cause general irritation to the lungs and the airways,” he said. “There are some folks that are very susceptible to having a more severe reaction, which are usually asthmatics and sometimes people with seasonal allergies — for instance people who are allergic to trees, or grass or those types of things.”

You have to be very careful that you know exactly what you’re burning, Bonfiglio said.

“If you’re burning poison ivy leaves and you don’t really realize you’re doing it, the reactions could even be more severe, even in people who don’t have allergies or asthma. Think of it as getting a poison ivy exposure in your lungs. You would have breathing difficulties, you’d probably start wheezing, coughing severely, and it would generally cause swelling to the airways,” he said.

Burning leaves also runs the risk of spreading fires through sparks and causing burn injuries.

Instead of burning leaves, the DEQ encourages residents to consider mulching and composting, which they said are both environmentally sound ways to manage most yard waste.

The easiest option is to mow leaves over with a lawnmower to chop them into fine mulch, which provides nutrients to help keep the grass healthy.

“It will help provide more nutrients for the grass, and it provides organic matter, which is really important to the soil,” said Mary Gerstenberger, environmental education coordinator for Michigan State University Extension in Macomb County. “If you have gardens, you can also rake the leaves right on top of the garden and let them lie. In the spring, a few weeks before planting, you just want to turn them over and let them help provide that organic matter back into the soil. People don’t always realize how important having the decomposed material in the soil is.”

Another option is composting, which improves soil structure, retains water, discourages rot growth, releases nutrients slowly, supports beneficial organisms and earthworms, and suppresses some soil-borne diseases. It also helps protect water quality because it absorbs rainwater and filters out many pollutants, and is useful as a soil amendment throughout the landscape, according to the Southeast Oakland County Resource Recovery Authority.

Many communities participate in municipal composting programs, such as SOCRRA, a governmental group that handles the trash collection, recycling and yard waste for its 12 member communities — Berkley, Beverly Hills, Birmingham, Clawson, Ferndale, Hazel Park, Huntington Woods, Lathrup Village, Oak Park, Pleasant Ridge, Royal Oak and Troy.

SOCRRA Operations Coordinator Mike Czuprenski said SOCCRA collects about 90,000 cubic yards of leaves each fall from the more than 100,000 homes in its member communities, and produces more than 17,000 cubic yards of compost each year at its 180-acre compost site in Rochester Hills. Czuprenski said SOCRRA’s separate collection of grass and leaves converts about 26 percent of what its residents generate into a compost product instead of going into a landfill.

“Basically, what we do is, we spend about a year turning those leaves and grass clippings into a garden mulch, a compost, that is then sold and also delivered back to our member communities, so they can give it to their residents and use it in their own city projects,” he said.

Residents whose communities don’t offer composting programs can make their own compost by mixing shredded leaves with things like grass clippings, soil or compost, fruit and vegetable peelings, and coffee grounds.

“When you’re composting, you need a balance in the material you use. You need two parts of brown material, which is high in carbon — and that’s what dried leaves would be — to one part of green material, which is like your grass or your food scraps and things. This is a good time to collect leaves, save them up, and add them into your compost pile along with your green materials to keep the right kind of balance,” Gerstenberger said.

Those interested in learning how to compost, can visit www.compost.org.

Michigan residents are also encouraged to contact their local waste haulers or local city, township or county department of public works to find out whether they collect leaves and yard waste for composting.

For more information on alternatives to burning leaves, call (800) 662-9278 or visit www.michigan.gov/deqair and select Open Burning Information.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Beth Almond at malmond@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1060.