8 million tons of leaves end up in landfills every year, despite their benefits

Oct 29, 2011 07:25 GMT  ·  By
Instead of maintaining your lawn perfectly styled,think about it as a living part of the entire ecosystem.
   Instead of maintaining your lawn perfectly styled,think about it as a living part of the entire ecosystem.

Melissa Hopkins of the National Audubon Society says that throwing the leaves we gather after cleaning our backyards isn't the best option. Hopkins declared that 8 million tons of leaves end up in landfills every year.

Instead of considering them waste, we might consider them natural vitamins which can become important factors in the development of mini-ecosystems and mulch.

The thing you have to take into account when trying to improve your lawn is that you have to display the leaves in a thin layer, so that sunlight will be able to get to what is beneath it. Otherwise, the moisture will compromise your lawn.

The rest of the remaining leaves can be used to nourish the trees in your garden. If you are not convinced about the beneficial uses of dead leaves, think about forests. Nobody actually cleans the soil in those areas and therefore, the layer of leaves provides up to 80% of the nutriments trees get in a natural way.

Instead of maintaining your lawn perfectly styled, think about it as a living part of the entire ecosystem.

"[...] think of it as this living, breathing habitat. And when you start thinking about it that way, you're going to start seeing that the more that you do stuff like this, the more birds are going to be attracted to your yard, diversity of birds, insects, butterflies,” declared Hopkins.