It’s not laziness if it’s officially recommended, so don’t bother raking the leaves in the fall because you will be destroying their mini-ecosystem and the benefits it provides.
- The NWF prompts people to leave fallen leaves on their lawn instead of sending them to landfills
- Leaves contribute to 13% of the solid matter in landfills, which is the leading cause of man-made gas emissions
- The fallen leaves could benefit the wildlife
- They will also be beneficial for your lawn or garden
Conservationists at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) have stated that raking the leaves effectively destroys the habitat of many creatures. Furthermore, it’s also preventing beneficial nutrients from slipping into your yard. It’s just easier and better for everyone if you let those fallen, beautifully colored leaves adorns your lawn.
There is an apparently great and green value in letting them just stay and decompose on their own. However, it has become habit for most to rake them, gather them up, and destroy them or haul them off to landfills. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, landfills with solid waste are the largest cause of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
Out of all that solid waste, 13% of the entire country’s is made from leaves gathered up from yards. Or, more accurately, 33 million tons of yard matter are collected per year from lawns across the United States. It adds more to the increasing problems of our planet. It would be much easier to let them stay there.
According to David Mizejewski from NWF, there are also numerous forms of wildlife that could benefit from your leaf-littered yard. There a number of animals, such as salamanders, toads, chipmunks, turtles, that could thrive within the layers of dead leaves. It would include multiple mammals, birds, or other creatures that depend on them for food.
For example, species of butterflies live in those discarded specks of nature that have fallen in your yard. Instead of gathering them up and throwing them out, the NWF prompts the population to just leave them be. Or, dedicate that time you would spend raking them to admiring the beauty of fall. The spectacular colors always provide with beautiful sights.
However, if none of those are convincing, the NWF have also claimed that it would be beneficial for your yard. Homeowners can staying within the rules, and still benefit themselves. They have been offered a couple of suggestions that might persuade them to abstain from raking the leaves.
The federation has proposed shredding them and spreading the leaves out for a pleasing aspect, leaving them in piles to decompose, forming a brush shelter for animals, or even creating a compose that would benefit your garden the next spring. They also requested that people should avoid using leaf blowers, because they’re loud and damaging our environment due to their use of fossil fuels. Leave the leaves be!
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