Here are some notes I took at the City Council meeting when SWACO Director Mills presented: 

Columbus has one of the largest landfills in the country. 3, 500 tons of trash goes into it everyday.

On average, 35% of US citizens recycle compared to Columbus’ 12%. The Clintonville neighborhood is one of largest participants.

SWACO is currently studying the trash and recycling options for Columbus and all the communities of Franklin County. This study will determine the carbon footprint of current and potential methods of trash hauling and recycling locally as well as their financial impact

Around 60% of what is sent to SWACO’s Franklin County landfill is from businesses. Much of it is recyclable paper and cardboard. SWACO has begun a new initiative to work with large categories of businesses in hopes of grouping them together to take advantage of group pricing for trash hauling and recycling.

The Columbus landfill has 25 years left. Then we need a new landfill. The average time it takes to plan, design, and put systems in place for a new landfill averages 10 years. 

If you haven’t signed up for curbside and like the convenience, call Rumpke at 740-474-9790 or 800-828-8171. The cost is $8.25/month. Or choose drop off recycling.  

The real success of a recycling program depends on the citizens. 

John Blake, Adena Brook neighbor and owner, Outdoor Sensations writes: We would be happy to do curb side leaf clean up for neighbors. We charge $90-$120 depending on the amount to remove. Please no limbs or large sticks (any sticks under 12 inches is fine) mixed into the piles, and no dirt or mud. Just place leaves along front curb/road edge, no further than 4 feet from the street. Please contact us when your pile is ready for pickup, and weather permitting (no rain/snow) we will remove your leaves within 24 hours. If you would like to schedule a specific date for leaf removal, we can do that as well. When we are finished, we will leave you a Service Report at your front door and mail an invoice for work completed.

http://www.outdoorsensations.com/curbside.htm
Go their web site page on Curb Side Leaf Removal for a video example of this service.

It’s fall and time to schedule deep root fertilization of your trees (to help them fight off gypsy moths). Many neighbors use Davey Tree Service (Don Wells). Call 614-471-4144.

Rather than fill dozens of bags of leaves this fall, I’ve called Outdoor Sensations for curb leaf removal. If you’re also interested, call 784-8585 or send an email requesting the service to: info@outdoorsensations.com. They ask for your name, address, and phone number. Adena Brook Community is not organizing this service.

Natural leaf fall creates a wonderful compost.  However, dumping leaves in the ravine causes matting, which prevents native plants and trees from germinating. Leaves dumped or blown from a yard into the woods can also cause erosion problems.