The following options are offered to City of Cape Girardeau residents for Leaf Removal

Curbside Leaf Collection - Leaf Season Map (Season Completed 01/19/10)
Curbside leaf collection is designed to assist residents with the removal of their leaves.  Crews will come through each zone during the designated week and pick up the leaves that are raked to the curb with a vacuum machine.  Sometimes leaves have not fallen yet when the crew comes through the area and sometimes the resident has been unable to rake their leaves before the crews get to their street. We try to time the program so we can pick up the maximum amount of leaves before inclement weather hits, without starting before the leaves begin to fall.  The dates for the program have to be scheduled in advance, and it is impossible to know what the weather is going to do that far ahead, so sometimes zones are delayed due to weather conditions.

If you want your leaves picked up through the curbside pickup program, it is important that they be raked to the curb before the Monday of your designated week.  Crews plan to spend the entire week in the zone, and to make at least one pass through every street during that week.  If they are by your house early in the week, they may not be back on that street again, depending on how many leaves are out and the weather conditions.  Once they are through with a zone, they will move to the next one and will not come back.   Doing so would throw them off schedule for the remaining zones.

Wednesday Special Pickup for Leaves in City Compost Bags
Compost bags are sold at Schnucks, Food Giant, City Hall, and Public Works (5 for $6.25). After purchasing your City yard waste bags, call Public Works to schedule a Wednesday pickup.  There is no charge for the pickup.   Be sure to purchase the City compost bags - they are the ones with the bright green stickers.

Free Drop Off of Leaves
Between November 2, 2009 and December 19, 2009, the Compost Holding Area will be open for free drop off of leaves weekdays from noon – 4:00 PM and Saturdays from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm.  The holding area is located on Third Street, off LaCruz across from Kasten Masonry.
 
After leaf season or if you have a small amount of leaves, you can also take them to the Recycling Center at 2007 Southern Expressway for no charge. The compost is "aged" and made available to the public in the southeast corner of Arena Park (where the animals are during the Fair) on a first come first serve basis.

Compost
Shredded leaves and dried grass clippings are good mulches for annual vegetable and flower gardens. Shredding leaves with a rotary lawn mower or home shredder will accelerate the composting process and quickly reduce their volume when space for composting is limited.  Leaves should be shredded and allowed to degrade slightly. Dried grass clippings should be applied less than one-inch think to prevent matting.

For more information on composting, visit the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and view their Homeowner's Composting Guide.

Open Burning
The Fire Department does permit open burning of leaves during safe conditions.  Guidelines can be found on the Fire Department's web site Open Burning Regulations page.