Autumn has fully arrived in the Treasure Valley, with temperatures and leaves falling. While the fall foliage displays are quite breathtaking, raking and getting rid of leaves can turn into a full-time job for many in the City of Trees.
The City of Boise rolled out a new composting program in 2017 as part of the Curb It Composting Program and it is one of the multiple options for leaf disposal. However, the Curb It program is only for participating customers.
The compost bins provided by the city will accept leaves for composting and will also take any paper leaf bags. The city will take the compost cart and up to three paper leaf bags all on your regularly scheduled pick up day. Additional paper leaf bags can be left on the curb and they will be slowly collected over a course of a few days (for between four to 10 bags) or over a couple weeks (for more than 10 bags).
The Curb It program will only accept paper leaf bags, no plastic bags will be accepted for composting.
Composting bins will can also include tree branches, limbs, grass clippings, pine cones and needles, and fruits and vegetables.
Residents can also take free finished compost from the Idaho Botanical Garden, Monday through Sunday, during regular business hours.
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Boise leaf bag drop-off sites
The city is also creating drop-off sites for paper leaf bags beginning on Monday, Oct. 29. There will be six locations throughout the city, and all are open Monday through Saturday.
- Elm Grove Park- 2200 Irene St., Boise (open every day)
- Cassia Park- 4600 Camas St., Boise (open every day)
- Boise Transfer Station - 4485 S. Curtis Road, Boise (open Monday through Saturday)
- Ada County Landfill (Oct. 22 to Dec. 7) -10030 Seaman’s Gulch Road, Boise (open Monday through Saturday)
- West Boise Water Renewal Facility – 12142 W. Joplin Road, Boise (Look for large blue container just off Joplin Road. Open every day.)
- Kristin Armstrong Municipal Park - 500 S. Walnut St., Boise (dirt road at north end of park, open every day)
Meridian leaf disposal waste options
Meridian residents have a couple options with what they can do with their leaves as well. The City of Meridian's waste collections can pick up paper leaf bags at normal pickup times.
Residents can also put leaves in use "Grass Recycling" bins throughout the month of November only.
Both methods of leaf disposal are free for residents and will go into composting sites for public use.
