Sacramento is the "City of Trees". For better or worse that also means city of leaves. While suburban areas put their green waste in bins, the denser central neighborhoods have leaf piles picked off the street regularly and seasonally by the "leaf claw". This is how it's been done for years, and how many other cities do it. However, recently a few local bureaucrats have been pushing to move the entire central city to containerized bin pickup. In the suburbs, containerized green waste bins mak... SteveV RollingReggie comment-18443 2009-11-30T18:26:44Z 2009-11-30T18:26:44Z I don't think this is a "one size fits all" situation. I'm an avid composter, and I also mulch ALL of the leaves from my maple and tulip tree. Just makes sense to me. I understand the situation downtown, and not everyone mulches/composts, etc, however for those out in the urban areas; who have larger yards, and more vegetation and trimming to do, i.e...rose bushes, oleanders, trees, etc, the "claw" works! I've observed that ALL of our utilities have continued to rise. This is simply another effort by the City/County, etc to charge us for the use of the bins(do-it-yourself) or for us to pay for hauling the leaves/tree trimmings, and so forth to the landfill, or pay for "claw" service. I say that if you can...compost those leaves into your lawn, or use the leaves for your garden, or create a compost bin. I recently purchased a grinder to grind up trimmings....and offered to grind up my neighbor's trimmings as well! Will I be able to convince the City that I will no longer need the "claw" or bin service so that I won't be charged? Stay tuned. RollingReggie 2009-11-30T18:26:44Z Steve Vicente comment-17974 2009-11-19T07:43:53Z 2009-11-19T07:43:53Z No, the service wasn't slow because of the storm. I was calling the City complaining about them missing pickup service for a couple months BEFORE that storm, since they pushed the bins in my area. The City's "opt-in" program has been a disaster & if you ask me, someone should be fired for it. Steve Vicente 2009-11-19T07:43:53Z Steve Vicente comment-17973 2009-11-19T07:34:50Z 2009-11-19T07:34:50Z You work for the city & live in the burbs don't you? Yeah, check YOUR facts... other cities use the claw. I remember that flood... 2 inches of rain in an hour. They upgraded the pipes after. Sorry, bins wouldn't have prevented that. The problem is, you think bins are going to eradicate leaves or something? I raked my leaves yesterday & guess what... I had a fresh coat of leaves out front today. Welcome to the City of Trees. Don't think for a second bins are going to encourage people to clean up leaves better... it will DISCOURAGE them because bins are a pain in the butt. I am happy to pay more for claw service. How about the City quits acting like it knows what we want & try to talk to residents or something? That's the problem with a govt supported monopoly... I can't fire them or cancel service. Steve Vicente 2009-11-19T07:34:50Z TadB comment-17609 2009-11-11T00:46:31Z 2009-11-11T00:46:31Z The reason the "piles" have built up is that little storm that we had about a month ago and it's the season right. Realistically, during this time of the year if the claw got to you every other week, that was pretty good. An additional factoid missing from the discussion re: the containerized option is that the claw will be working during leaf fall and several times during the spring. If you don't need a container the rest of the year - compost and opt out of the city's program. That's what I do. From the city of sacramento: Containerized Yard Waste customers also receive eight loose-in-the-street collections during the year. Click here for PDF version of Collection Calendar. Please share this schedule with your gardener. * January - collection second week * February - collection last week * May - collection last week * October - collection last week * November and December - collection a minimum of every other week (See the Leaf Season Collection Map) TadB 2009-11-11T00:46:31Z Puma comment-17608 2009-11-11T00:15:07Z 2009-11-11T00:15:07Z Many other cities don't do it this. Please check your facts. The vast majority use containers. If the city charged actual costs for pick up via the claw, rates should double or triple. The claw uses a crew of two, two polluting vehicles and can service fewer houses. The green waste plugs up storm drains and causes local flooding. Several years ago, green waste was identified as a cause of flooding in the Southside Park neighborhood that resulted in contaminated floodwaters containers coliform bacteria 3,000 times acceptable levels. Not something you want to slosh through. Puma 2009-11-11T00:15:07Z Steve Vicente comment-17406 2009-11-06T19:07:39Z 2009-11-06T19:07:39Z Piles which have built up since the City stopped picking them up... thanks to bins. Steve Vicente 2009-11-06T19:07:39Z thsas comment-17405 2009-11-06T19:06:38Z 2009-11-06T19:06:38Z Think of all the fresh new graffiti we can get with more cans! thsas 2009-11-06T19:06:38Z mirr17 comment-17401 2009-11-06T18:38:54Z 2009-11-06T18:38:54Z This is an ongoing item of discussion. This summer there were 2 great articles on the need to use green waste cans to reduce mosquitoes breeding in the storm drains/catch basins throughout Sacramento. This is a serious problem that affects everyone because of diseases mosquitoes transmit and can affect everyone. Read the 2 articles at: Letting go of the Claw http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1029603 Blood Sucking Freaks http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=998313 mirr17 2009-11-06T18:38:54Z mirr17 comment-17399 2009-11-06T18:25:52Z 2009-11-06T18:25:52Z I agree with Robert, the piles of leaves are unattractive and dangerous to both cyclists and pedestrians. Green waste containers is the way to go. mirr17 2009-11-06T18:25:52Z Steve Vicente comment-17375 2009-11-06T07:24:02Z 2009-11-06T07:24:02Z Oh yeah... plus, I would like a refund for my $13 for green waste Dept. of Utilities - because I have received no service. Steve Vicente 2009-11-06T07:24:02Z Steve Vicente comment-17374 2009-11-06T07:22:53Z 2009-11-06T07:22:53Z Robert, you said it yourself. The bins will not fit all the leaves. So again... what is the point? All your following arguments kind of fall flat due to this, because the City will need to do the "claw" no matter what right? Downtown is not the burbs where you live. We don't have your big lawns. We have little to no green waste except for Fall. How about instead of wasting all that money on those bins, actually pick up the leaves? We've had piles of leaves on my street almost constantly the past two months because the City is trying to force the bins & stopped picking up leaves. Nice job... problem is worse now. Steve Vicente 2009-11-06T07:22:53Z advocate comment-17348 2009-11-06T00:59:38Z 2009-11-06T00:59:38Z You and Robert don't seem to notice that the dog and human poop, litter from half eaten sandwiches, half empty beer, coffee and soft drink bottles, fast foods and plastic cups, bags, etc. which rats, cockroaches and other bugs love are year long problems. So are tree blossoms, discarded clothing, seed pods, falling twigs and branches. You don't notice all that crap because the claw picks it up every week. Wait until there is no claw, then you'll moan about the dirty streets. So now you want homeowners to pick up all that crap, expose themselves to disease, vermin and unsanitary disposed goods and cram it into their bins and hold it on their property. How considerate of you. How about you and volunteering forming a team to do it for the seniors, disabled and others with mobility and lung problems? advocate 2009-11-06T00:59:38Z Denise Coleman comment-17344 2009-11-05T23:45:33Z 2009-11-05T23:45:33Z I 'v got to agree with Robert here. The claw is terribly inefficient.There is nothing more annoying than spending the afternoon cleaning up my yard ,sidewalk and gutter then have the Claw come by and spread half of my leaf pile all over the street.I'm willing to deal with an extra bin if it means not having to clean up a gutter full of soggy mulch that ends up running down the storm drain. Denise Coleman 2009-11-05T23:45:33Z Robert Horowitz comment-17332 2009-11-05T22:15:20Z 2009-11-05T22:15:20Z I am going to have to disagree here, and I don't think the tone of this article is helpful. You make this sound like a capricious whim of unelected bureacrats, but in fact the city staff who are responsible for implementing these programs serve any number of masters, some of whom are elected, and others who have the ability to fine the city large amounts of $$$. While I certainly agree that massive fall leaf drops in the central city will overwhelm any bin, I don't think they city is unaware of that or would completely cease fall leaf-pickup efforts. While it may have some merits, the claw system is archaic and inefficient. It means running extra diesel engines, it damages city streets, and it requires a clean-up crew of broom-wielding workers. This is all very expensive, and results in significant emissions and noise. The bin loading trucks are faster, quieter and cleaner. Furthermore, the leaf piles are a hazard to cyclists and sometimes motorists. Few city residents take the time to properly sweep their portion of the street and keep their leaf piles out of the rights of way. Then there is the issue of attractive nuisance; street piles are a magnet for trash, little bags of dog poop, and other contaminants to the greenwaste stream. Then there is the most important issue of all, water quality and flooding. The street piles inveitably find their way into the city's antiquated storm drain system, inrtroducing nutrients, pathogens and other nasties. Sometimes the unwanted debris simply clogs the drain completely, resulting in flooding and much overtime for city staff unclogging them during a storm. Otherwise the stuff is just carried to the river. Street piles were eliminated in Woodland for that very reason. If there is a mosquito issue, and I have not heard that one before, it is because the street piles clog the storm drains and water pools there. Sacramento, like many city's, hires a pest control company to regularly treat the storm drains to eliminate mosquitoes. While there are some city reaidents who do a great job sweeping their gutters and keeping their piles out of the way, the majority do not. Bins are the way to go. I am certain that the city will continue to deal with the leaf issue; but it would be better for all if residents composted that themselves and used it on their yards. Barring that, get used to another bin. Robert Horowitz 2009-11-05T22:15:20Z savemidtown comment-17277 2009-11-05T05:34:34Z 2009-11-05T05:34:34Z Seriously - having the central city treated like the rest of the city is not practical - as a central city property owner - the claw makes sense - savemidtown 2009-11-05T05:34:34Z