Hey I have had an idea to do a 'free' leaf harvesting for composting and wondering about any kind of ecological impact of this. Are urban landscapes ecosystems? Seems like a lot of small life use leaves for cover so they are theoretically the base of the ecosystem in these communities.

I get that you cant really control what chemicals are on these leaves as you are getting them from another persons lawn. Therefore its not the best composting. I guess one could educate the suppliers and maybe even provide some sort of incentive for batches that test this way or that. That said, leaves have a high reputation for composting from many people.

Is this a total waste of time? Thoughts? I don't really care about the business side of this, I am totally asking from the perspective of science and ecological impact.

I've used leaf mulch from the leaves collected in the yard that I shredded using the mulch-vacuum feature of a blower. Looked fairly nice and was the best cost available to cover various unused beds.

I mean, I think that this is a viable activity economically for a bunch of reasons I don't really feel like explaining here, because it would muddle the point of the thread and really be more appropriate in BFI.

My question is specifically the value from a mulching perspective compared to other compost sources and any ecological impact to urban and suburban communities. FWIW, I probably know more about science than 95-98% of average joes, just biology and espesh botany are by far my weakest subjects.

In the UK this type of activity is generally carried out by the local authority. Green waste is collected weekly or bi-weekly via dedicated bins supplied to individual households, and the service is usually included as part of local property taxes. Sometimes a small extra fee is charged.

As to what happens to the waste...

So ultimately they sell it back to you, probably at a loss.