In addition to all the other views, what is the environmental impact of the recent decision to bag leaves? This verdict doesn’t seem to be aligned with the village board’s adoption of Climate Ready Oak Park (CROP).
Even though these leaf bags are compostable, they consume enormous amounts of natural resources (water, wood pulp, etc.) and energy in their manufacture and are done so in a toxic chemical solution that contributes to air and water pollution.
If 5-10 bags per week are used over the six weeks of leaf collection, each home would likely use 30 – 60 bags, if not more. Multiply that by the number of homes in Oak Park, and it has a big environmental impact every year that could easily be avoided.
We already have an environmentally friendly approach to leaf collection. I understand the valid concerns of this, so let’s responsibly address these matters and not voluntarily create another issue that is misaligned with our climate pledge.
As is stated on our village of Oak Park website regarding single-use bags (including paper bags): “It is the right thing to do for the environment to encourage source reduction and minimize the negative direct impacts of pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and litter.”
Let’s not go backward.
Chris Lutz
Oak Park