Dispose of grass correctly; better yet, don't dispose of it at all

Did you remember to put your "green dumpster" by the curb this morning?

If not, you'll have to live with the decomposing clippings, or haul them to the city compost site yourself; it's illegal to throw them in the regular alley trash containers.

That's because state law bans grass clippings in landfills from April 1 through Nov. 30 each year.

Why is that?

For one, decomposing grass leaches pollution into the groundwater. For another, it creates methane gas that has to be dealt with.

Most importantly for McCook, however, is the expense of hauling all that dead grass to a regional landfill, for $37.90 a ton, plus fuel surcharge costs.

Provided your grass clippings get to the city composting site somehow, the city has a compost turner and screen to help with the composting process, and hopes to eventually make the compost available to local gardeners.

If you don't want to rent the green compost container from the city, at a cost of $5 a month, you can take your clippings to the transfer station, free to citizens who have a trash account with the city, or take them to one of the various 600-gallon containers around McCook.

You can call the McCook transfer station, (308) 345-7049, for more information.

But what if watering and fertilizing your lawn to create healthy grass, then cutting it off and throwing it away doesn't seem like a good idea to you?

You could compost your own grass clippings, for use on your garden and flower beds, or better yet, leave the clippings on your lawn -- "grass-cycle."

Despite what your dad told you, grass clippings quickly decompose and return needed nutrients to the soil. They also act as a natural mulch, helping your grass retain water.

Leaving the clippings on the lawn improves the soil texture, reduces the need for fertilizers, saves time and, yes, reduces the waste that has to be hauled away.

While mulching mowers and mulching blades are widely available, a reel-type mower is quiet, effective, easy to use and leaves the grass on the lawn where it belongs.

More information on composting is available at http://byf.unl.edu/web/byf/CreatingCompost

McCook yard waste information is available at http://www.cityofmccook.com/index.aspx?nid=247