We always put our yard waste into tied-up bags and set them curbside on trash day. However, we also don't toss loose trash into the can (any more!), and always bag up what we can. When the garbage collectors dump an entire can of loose stuff into their truck, something's bound to end up in the street -- and they're not ones to clean up after themselves. :)

We have a green can for yard waste, and it goes loose in there. But back when we had just the trash pick up we bagged the yard waste and put the bag out for them to pick up or loose in it's own can.

But I'm confused by your two options... do you mean that your garbage goes loose in the can (kitchen scraps, bathroom trash and all) or do you bag that separately in it's own bag?

I would think the trash guys would want things bagged or have a separate trash can for loose yard waste. You could ask them!

Plastic bags... no way.. choose B, much more earth friendly but your DH and mine could be brothers... it's a battle! I agree with blfenton... actually it is a fact...

Put it in a paper bag, and put that bag in the trash can.

The kitchen trash absolutely goes into a bag...not just into the can. It's the yard waste we're having the battle about. I think he's winning. It just seems so messy to put loose leaves and twigs right into the trash can. His response was....you mean the TRASH CAN will get dirty?? It's hard to respond to that.

We aren't allowed to put yard waste in with our trash, but i vote for the bag to keep the can as clean as possible.

I'm all for not using plastic bags, but I would think the trash guys would have a problem with all the loose yard stuff in the same can as the bagged garbage. If your kitchen trash leaked, it could get all over the yard waste and make emptying the can pretty unpleasant. I would ask your trash company. Also, are you charged per can? If not, then just get another can and put the loose yard waste in its own can. If it's only used for yard waste it doesn't get too dirty.

We have a monthly yard waste pick up, so we often save big cardboard boxes and fill those with little loose stuff (leaves, grass, twigs). Our city guys will take it all to be composted.

But in between, if we have small yard debris, it goes in the big paper bags that bird seed comes in (we buy lots of bird seed for our house, and for my Mom's house.) And those stuffed bags go in our trash bin. Or sometimes I'll use the big plastic bags that potting soil comes in. (Nobody is allowed to toss any kind of big bag in our house, under penalty of death!) So we hardly ever have to buy plastic yard bags.

Our city asks on their website that loose debris is bagged before it goes in the bin. It's so windy here it makes a mess if the stuff is loose when they dump the bins upside down. Branches are OK in the trash bin, but we make sure little messy stuff is always contained in something...even a box stuffed in there. It's not to keep the trash can clean (lol!) but to keep our crud from blowing into the street and neighbor's yards.

Maybe call or email your city? Not that I'm trying to take sides, or anything. ;-)

We use the large paper bags available at Home Depot, Lowes, Costco and Ace Hardware for yard waste. They hold tons and are degradable.. Are they not available where you live?

Yes, I too use my birdseed, dog food bags... any bag I already have of size for that matter. Reusable bags for groceries, but I always end up with some plastic and use those for kitchen trash. If I have none to recycle I use a plastic bag in kitchen can that does have it's own liner... BUT still use grocery or other small plastic for stinky trash too and then reuse the bigger plastic one if possible. I just hate to buy those plastic ones... cost now n later to landfills when something else suffices just as well, though it is easier just to use them!
DH likes the bags because he demands a fairly clean trash can and he is the one who cleans it...

I'm guessing this is some small trash can that they have to pick up and empty and not a dumpster? I've never had curbside trash, only alley dumpsters and we just dump yard waste in it. No one has to touch the trash, the dump truck picks the dumpster up and dumps it.

Do everyone a favor and start a compost pile for loose leaves, clippings, etc, and also a pile for branches, brush, and other woody trimmings. Birds and small animals shelter in the brush pile as it breaks down and worms and other insects live in the compost, helping break it down. Set up a bird feeder and birdbath or two and say goodbye to mosquito and fly problems and over time you get free fertilizer for your plants.

There's no yard waste pick up in my city. Sometimes I use the paper yard waste bags - usually I do, but sometimes I use contractor trash bags. My understanding is that hardly anything biodegrades in a landfill - not even a banana peel.

If you bag the house trash, bag the yard trash too.

it blows all over the place and it's a mess.

YES rmtdoug, I agree... we have compost piles too, but have stopped them in these cold winters we have in Maine and trudging through the snow to get to them is problematic anymore. I think this poster is in town though. We live on acreage in the country and have to take our trash to the dump...

compost

Thanks everyone! We will call the trash company and see what they prefer.

Vanella Jones post - SPAM.