Those leaves tho’.

Many of my outdoorsy friends have been commenting on how gorgeous the leaf colors are this Autumn, and I can’t disagree. But more importantly: What should you do when they fall from all those trees?

We’re helping you figure it out in today’s Where Can I Wednesday column.

The Streets Department Philadelphia Leaf Collection and Recycling Program is back for 2015!

Philadelphia Leaf Collection 2015

The City’s offering city-wide dropoffs during the program. Just don’t leave the leaves next to your trashcan – they’ll be taken to the landfill and won’t benefit the soil. A few rules to note:

• Only use biodegradable (i.e., paper.) bags.
• Don’t mix trash or recycling with these bags.
• Max 40 LBs per bags.
• Bags must be purchased at a hardware store.

Where to Drop Off your Leaves

Need to drop off your leaves? There will be city-wide drop offs, available on Saturdays starting November 21, 2015 at 23 designated neighborhood locations from 9 AM to 3 PM through Saturday, December 19th. (Saturday following Thanksgiving does not apply).

The locations are as follows:

• 66th & Haverford Ave. West Philadelphia
• 54th & Woodbine Ave. West Philadelphia
• 43rd & Powelton Ave. West Philadelphia
• 72nd & Buist Ave. West Philadelphia
• Broad & Christian St. South Philadelphia
• 20th & Hartranft St. South Philadelphia
• 15th & Bigler St. South Philadelphia
• Corinthian & Poplar St. North Philadelphia
• American & Thompson St. North Philadelphia
• Graver Lane & Seminole Northwest
• Cathedral & Ridge Ave. Northwest
• Washington Ln. & Ardleigh Northwest
• Wayne Ave. & Logan St. Northwest
• Upsal & Lowber St. Northwest
• Fisher & Ogontz Ave. Northwest
• 5th & Chelten Ave. (water reservoir) Oak Lane
• Castor & Foulkrod St. Frankford
• 1400 Cottman – Pennway & Cottman Ave. (Jardel Rec.) Northeast
• 2901 Princeton Ave. (Mayfair Rec.) Northeast
• 7901 Ridgeway St. (Fox Chase Rec.) Northeast
• 8101 Bustleton Ave. Northeast
• 2900 Comly Rd. – Palmer Playground Northeast
• 7231 Torresdale Ave. – Russo Park Northeast

You can also drop off leaves at the Philadelphia Sanitation Convenience Centers:

• 3033 S. 63rd Street (63rd & Passyunk Ave.)
• Domino Lane and Umbria Street
• State Road and Ashburner Street
• 2601 W. Glenwood Avenue
• 51st and Grays AvenueMechanical Leaf Collection 2015

A few blocks have mechanical leaf collections. But check the Streets Department website – it’s a wee bit complicated.

Where your leaves go

Ever wonder what happens to your leaves when you recycle them? They end up in Fairmount Park! We’ll get more into our recent adventure there… on another post.

Fairmount Park Organic Recycling Center

Did you know you can also drop off & pick up organic materials right in your Philly Park? The Organic Recycling Center is on 3850 Ford Road and has FREE compost, mulch & manure… to a point.

411 on Fairmount Park Recycling Center

• Drop off clean leaves or clean grass clippings – $45 per ton
• Drop off wood chips – $15 per ton.
• Get up to 30 gallons of compost, mulch or manure for FREE. If you want more, you gotta pay for it. ($40 per ton for leaf compost.)

Compost Privately

If you’re a Bennett Compost customer, you can give them your leaves two ways:

• Call or email ahead, and they can take up to two large bags during your regularly scheduled pickup.
• Bring unlimited bags to their facility – either Saturday (10 AM – 4 PM) or during the week by appointment, before Thanksgiving.

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Julie Hancher is Editor-in-Chief of Green Philly, sharing her expertise of all things sustainable in the city of brotherly love. She enjoys long walks in the park with local beer and greening her travels, cooking & cat, Sir Floofus Drake. View all posts by Julie Hancher