Wyckoff April 10, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES I • Page 7 Grass clipping pickup option will not be offered by John Koster A concept that would have allowed Wyckoff residents to pay a fee for continued curbside pickup of grass clippings this summer has been dropped. Last year, only 10 to 15 percent of residents reportedly left their grass clippings out for curbside disposal. At several public meetings, the Wyckoff Township Committee had pondered an option in which a group of residents who wanted to dispose of their lawn clippings at the curb could work out a fee-paid haulage agreement. However, the perceived lack of interest led the township committee to scrap the option, and the township does not intend to provide any curbside pickups for lawn clippings. The Wyckoff Environmental Commission urges residents to use one of four alternative means to get rid of grass clippings. The “green alternative” is to “cut it and leave it,” which will benefit the lawn by returning organic nutrients and mulch to the soil. Grass clippings can provide as much as 25 percent of a healthy lawn’s fertilizer needs. Mulching mowers do this job best because they cut the grass into small pieces and distribute those pieces evenly, which facilitates recycling. As a second option, property owners may instruct their landscapers to take the grass clippings away with them. Residents may also take their grass clippings to the Wyckoff Recycling Center at 476 West Main Street. No commercial vehicles are allowed at the center, but the service is available to township residents. The residents may deposit their clippings in a container or deposit them on the ground adjacent to the container. Branches that are less than three feet in length may also be dropped off at the center. As a fourth option, residents may wish to compost their grass by mixing the cut grass with items such as cut flowers, leaves, and smaller twigs. The composted mix should be turned over once or twice a month to foster the decomposition that turns leaves and other vegetation back into topsoil. The Wyckoff Recycling Center accepts glass food and beverage containers in clear, brown, or green colors; tin cans and aluminum cans; wax-coated paper cartons; and plastics #1 through #7, except for Stryofoam, which is sometimes labeled as plastic #6. Those plastics not permitted at the recycling center should be discarded with household waste. The center also accepts scrap metals; large appliances, such as refrigerators and freezers with the doors removed for safety, washing machines, and dryers; and lawn mowers and snow blowers without gasoline, oil, or rubber tires. Computers, electronics, televisions, and toasters may also be left at the center. Rechargeable batteries are acceptable, but standard batteries are not. Corrugated and single-ply cardboard, newsprint, books, junk mail and magazines are also accepted. The Recycling and Conservation Center on West Main Street will be open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. throughout the month of April. The Wyckoff Environmental Commission, which supports Team Up to Tidy Up, suggests that residents make use of the Wyckoff Recycling Center to keep the township clean and environmentally friendly all year. Township officials note that, if Wyckoff can reach the goal of “Nifty Fifty” -- half of all household and yard waste recycled, financial advantages may be available. Wyckoff Mayor Rudy Boonstra will be the only official candidate running for Wyckoff Township Committee. Boonstra, a Republican, was the only Wyckoff candidate to file for his party’s upcoming June 4 primary. No Democrats filed by last week’s deadline, but Independents have until June 4 to announce their candidacy. Boonstra is now serving his second term as mayor, a post he last held in 2010. He is life-long Wyckoff resident and a former member of the local and regional boards of education. Mayor Rudy Boonstra is sole township committee candidate Appointed to an unexpired term, Boonstra later won a contested primary and a contested election. Boonstra has also served for almost 40 years on the Wyckoff Volunteer Fire Department and is active in many local causes and charities. In Wyckoff, township committee members run for staggered terms, and this year there is only one vacancy. Each January, the Wyckoff Township Committee members select a mayor for the year. J. KOSTER