GREENSBORO, N.C. — Many Greensboro residents have recently received new hardware. While some welcomed the new yard waste collection container, others would prefer the program return to its former state.
Verlene Daniels-Rice lives in the Rosewood community. She's well known throughout the area as she gives back through her community garden.
She keeps up with yard work, which produces lots of waste, to keep the grounds nice and fertile.
"On my first week of doing leaves, I might have 28-30 bags of leaves. The can holds more too. And then you don't have to worry about punctures," said Daniels-Rice.
The City of Greensboro recently dropped off a new yard waste container at Daniels-Rice's house. Similar to her experience, Steve Arnett also received a grey container recently.
Arnett fears the container will not hold all of his yard waste and prefers the older plastic bag program.
“I don’t think it takes into account that they’re replacing that budget line with more back-breaking work for homeowners. It’s going to take more work no matter which way you use the barrel or use the bags it's going to take a lot more effort on the part of individual homeowners and property owners," explained Arnett.
To be clear, the new rules state that loose-leaf collection is no longer available. Yard waste must now be put into the grey container or paper bags. For most of the year, you can fill the bin with 10 bags. Once leaves fall in the fall, the bag limit bumps up to 15.
Tori Carle-Emerson is the city's Waste Direction Supervisor. She explained the biggest reason for the change.
"We have had quite a few over the years Worker's Comp. claims related to lifting and straining related to bags of yard waste also with our loose-leaf collection not a super safe process."
Residents who think their waste will exceed the bins and bag capacity can buy another bin from the city. The city also advises neighbors to chip away at yard work a little bit at a time.
"Do your yard work consistently. So, that you can manage your yard waste in a timely fashion in a way that's going to be most manageable for you and that's gonna look different for everyone," explained Carle-Emerson.