On Tuesday, February 23rd at 4pm, Fairfax County will be holding a public hearing on the topic of prohibiting the use plastic bags for yard waste collection. Over the last year, the County has thoughtfully executed an education and outreach plan to communities and residents to make this transition as smooth as possible.
Currently, collected yard waste across the county goes to a composting facility. At the facility, the bags holding the yard waste, be they paper or plastic, all get shredded and mixed into the compost. Through this process, plastic makes its way into our soils, water supply, and eventually to us. But this ordinance amendment would prohibit the use of plastic bags, thus creating a safer and healthier compost product.
However, there is opposition to this change in that it could cause inconvenience and added costs to residents. Given the alternatives provided, this ordinance need not do either. The County has provided several alternatives ranging from mulching leaves and yard waste back into the soil, to using paper bags or reusable containers.
Although I've never had to use plastic bags to dispose of leaves, having an enormous back lot where we can dump all the leaves we can stand to move off our lawn, I defend you right to do so, if that solution works for you.
If the counties machinery can't tell leaves from plastic, maybe they need to improve the machinery.
The Wombat has Rule 5 Sunday: Niece Waidhofer up and running.
They'll just hire the illegal Mexican yardworkers to pile it into the back of their pickups and go find an empty lot to dump it in ... like so frequently happens in Fairfax County now. Fairfax County has turned itself into a pretzal trying to be illegal-friendly, so I suspect they can get away with it.
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