Did you know that leaves are natural fertilizers and help protect wildlife? Nature’s bounty provides an opportunity to put fallen leaves to good use.
The Town of Carrboro is partnering with the New Hope Audubon Society, Town of Chapel Hill, and Keep Durham Beautiful to encourage community members to Leave the Leaves, support biodiversity, improve water quality, and reduce pollution.
Leaving Your Leaves has several important benefits:
- Wildlife Habitat: Leaves provide winter habitat for native wildlife that are essential to a healthy ecosystem and biodiversity. Insects and pollinators such as bees and butterflies depend on leaves for shelter which in turn will boost gardens in the spring. Leaves also serve as a habitat for other wildlife such as lizards and birds.
- Soil Health: Leaves prevent soil erosion, retain moisture, act as a natural mulch by providing ground cover, and improve soil fertility by adding essential nutrients as they decompose.
- Less Pollution: Blowing and moving leaves often involves fossil fuel-powered equipment which produces greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. Leaving the leaves reduces this environmental impact and the noise associated with this equipment.
- Water Quality: Leaves are natural fertilizers and reduce the need for chemical fertilizers that pollute waterways and kill beneficial fungi.
- Time Savings: Spend your days relaxing, hiking, or visiting with friends and family instead of cleaning up loose leaves.
Overall, not raking leaves is a simple way to support the environment and local biodiversity while also making yard maintenance easier and more sustainable.
Pledge to Leave Your Leaves and receive a free yard sign!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdQstdXRwN1POlnPvgBIvlpHFOXaMOtKAIa25L6iozapXv11g/viewform
Free yard signs are available to Carrboro and Chapel Hill participants while supplies last. Yard signs measure 18 x 24 inches, are made of sturdy, weather-resistant materials, and are printed with low-VOC vegetable-based inks. There is a limit of one yard sign per household per year.
