Suddenly the colorful hues of autumn trees are gone and leaves are accumulating in piles and drifts across Anniston. In order to help Annistonians dispose of their excess fallen foliage, the street department is running two leaf trucks this week.
One truck will be in the area of C Street and Leighton, working north between Quintard and Sleeping Giant Road. The second truck will be in the area of Bird Street and Rocky Hollow, working south between Rocky Hollow and Quintard.
Jackson Hodges, Anniston public information officer, said the routes that the leaf trucks run are updated each Friday on the city’s newsletter list. Residents can sign up for the newsletter on the city’s main web page: https://www.annistonal.gov/
To make leaf pickup faster the city recommends the following:
— Pile loose leaves on the edge of your yard, but not in the gutter. If they’re in the gutter, they’ll create drainage problems. If they’re too far from the curb, the leaf truck can’t reach them.
— Try to get loose leaves all in one place. A single pile is better than a line of leaf piles across your lot.
— Bagging is faster. If you bag your leaves, they’re likely to get picked up faster. Bagged leaves will go to the landfill instead of the incinerator, but leaves are lighter than other bagged trash and therefore don’t add much to landfill costs.
— Keep it separate. Put leaves in one pile and brush in another. If you put brush or garbage on top of leaves, the leaf truck can’t get to the leaves.
— Don’t stack garbage on top of brush. If there’s garbage on top of a brush pile, either bagged trash or big items like a mattress, all of it goes into the brush truck — and then the entire truck has to go to the landfill. That costs the city additional funds, and it slows the progress of brush pickup.