Denver, CO
Dead leaf, pumpkin drop-off recycling program opens in Denver
Wondering what to do with your piles of dead leaves and rotting pumpkins this fall? Recycle them with Denver’s annual LeafDrop program.
The LeafDrop program turns those leaves and pumpkins into compost instead of allowing them to end up in the landfill, according to Denver’s Department of Transportation and Infrastructure.
City officials said people can drop off their expired fall vegetation to select collection centers between Monday, Oct. 7, and Saturday, Nov. 30. The following locations are open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.:
- Cherry Creek Transfer Station at 7301 East Jewell Ave.;
- Havana Nursery at 10450 Smith Road; and
- Central Platte Campus at 1271 West Bayaud Ave..
The Cherry Creek Transfer Station is the only site that accepts loose leaves and hitched trailers, city officials said Monday. Otherwise, leaves should be bagged.
Weekend drop sites will be open from Nov. 2 to Nov. 17 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., city officials said. The November weekend locations include:
- Cherry Creek Transfer Station at 7301 East Jewell Ave.;
- Bruce Randolph High School at East 40th Avenue and Steele Street;
- Kennedy High School at Newland Street and Brown Place;
- Sloan’s Lake northwest parking lot at West Byron Place and Yates Street; and
- Veterans Park at South Vine Street and East Iowa Ave.
When preparing to recycle fall trash, city officials said people should not:
- Include branches or other materials in leaf bags;
- Use twine or staples to secure paper leaf bags, just roll and crimp them;
- Rake or blow leaves into the streets; they can clog storm sewer inlets and street sweepers.
Current city compost customers can put leaves and pumpkins in their compost cart, city officials said.
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Originally Published:
Metro Denver residents will see rain through the middle of May — probably not enough to reverse the drought — and any snow during this week’s cool spell likely will stay in Colorado’s mountains and foothills, according to the National Weather Service.
But Colorado and Denver have a history of May snowstorms, and “it can happen,” NWS meteorologist Russell Danielson said on Monday.
“There’s a slight, very small possibility of a few flakes falling overnight tonight with no accumulation expected,” Danielson said. “And, then, there’s another very slight chance Thursday night – again, with no accumulation expected,” he said.
The cooler weather that reached the Colorado Front Range on Sunday morning is expected to bring significant snow at elevations above 6,000 feet. In metro Denver, temperatures peaked at around 53 degrees on Monday, and NWS forecast afternoon thunderstorms.
In the mountains, snow showers will create hazardous travel conditions — poor visibility and slippery roads, especially on passes at higher elevations, NWS forecasters said. They issued a winter weather advisory for the north central mountains and anticipated mountain snow accumulations up to 8 inches by Tuesday morning.
Looking ahead, meteorologists predicted moisture in metro Denver over the next two weeks, shifting to warmer conditions through the end of July. That may bring relief after an exceptionally dry winter and early spring. Colorado mountain snowpack ranked as the lowest in recent history, and Denver temperatures in March – typically a month that brings heavy snow — broke records, topping 80 degrees.
“We have varying levels of severe to exceptional drought across the Denver area and the Front Range mountains,” Danielson said.
“Through about May 10, we expect multiple rounds of precipitation. That can, hopefully, lead to a little green-up,” he said. “But, then, from the second half of May through the end of July, it will look particularly hot and dry. We’re still expecting an above-normal fire weather season.”
On Sunday, up to a quarter inch of rain fell on parts of north metro Denver.
The rain this week is shaping up as “the best over the past five months,” climatologist Allie Mazurek said at the Colorado Climate Center on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins. But “our deficits are quite major, stacking up over months.” The statewide average mountain snowpack this week measured 15% of the average between 1991 and 2020, Mazurek said.
“Everywhere, we’re seeing below-average stream flow. And that’s expected to continue through summer,” she said.
“The only snow left is at high elevations above 10,000 feet. We’re in a bad place with our drought. We’ll take any moisture at this point,” she said. “But to turn our situation around, we would need a changed weather pattern over a long period of time, not just a couple of weeks.”
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