Fall: The smell of pumpkin bread wafting from the oven, the emergence of sweaters and boots, the feeling of crisp wind on your cheeks and leaves crunching under your toes. The transition from the hot sun and strong AC of summer to the bitter cold and cozy fires of winter. And most notably, the transformation of leaf color from hearty greens to warm reds, oranges, and yellows.
In the spirit of the season, I found some great tips for sustainably ridding your lawn of leaves, as well as some awesome fall craft ideas! Enjoy 🙂
Forget the plastic bags.
Instead of lining your curb with jumbo garbage bags that will sit for hundreds (if not thousands) of years in landfills, you could just as easily compost your leaves! Check with your local recycling program to find a yard-waste collection program. Composting is also a much better option than incineration, because burning leaves releases toxins that are harmful for humans and the atmosphere, such as hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide.
Another alternative is to create leaf mulch, essentially by mowing over your leaves to crush them and then spreading them over your garden and other landscaped areas for easy protection from the winter elements. The heaviness of the leaves makes leaf mulch an excellent choice for garden beds, since the wind is less likely to carry them off, and improves overall soil quality due to the extra bacteria.
Get crafty!
Leaf lanterns
You just need Modge Podge, jars, and some tea lights to create these fall-inspired lanterns! Perfect for a table setting or to line your driveway or walkway.
Leaf wreath
These wreaths are a great decorations for anyone’s home! They’re super easy to make too; you can just cut out a circle of poster board paper and glue the leaves down. Violá.
If you aren’t feeling particularly crafty, try stuffing your leaves in cute pumpkin leaf bags for quick lawn decor. It was tradition for my grandmother, brother, and I to fill bags like theses with the leaves that we helped rake each fall, and the chore was definitely much more fun when we had fun pumpkins to place wherever we felt like! When it’s time for the pumpkins to go, the leaves inside have already begun to degrade and thus make for an even better mulch to place in your garden. Don’t forget to recycle the bag at your nearest drop-off location!
Cheers to a SustainaAutumn 🙂
xoxo
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