Getting rid of grass cuttings

T

thebop

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Apologies if this has been asked already. Anyone any advice for the best way to get rid of grass? I read somehwere about a mulch mower has anyone any experience of this? All replies greatly appreciated!
 
I've heard mulching mowers are good (they help fertilise the existing lawn too) but they tend only to be available on the pricier self drive or ride-on mowers - but if they are what you are considering anyway, probably a good idea.
 
Thanks for those replies.
Can I ask a stupid question clubman - can I put the grass in with the rubbish?
 
Check with your bin collection company, some of them don't take grass cuttings.
 
thebop said:
I read somehwere about a mulch mower has anyone any experience of this? All replies greatly appreciated!
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The mulch mower will save you having to dispose of the grass but the downside is the clippings will end up all over the house, especially if you have kids. The other problem with mulchers is that they only mulch well if the grass is very dry and you don't try and cut it too short. Speaking form personal experience I don't think mulchers are compatible with Irish weather.
 
demoivre said:
The mulch mower will save you having to the dispose of the grass but the downside is the clippings will end up all over the house, especially if you have kids. The other problem with mulchers is that they only mulch well if the grass is very dry and you don't try and cut it too short. Speaking form personal experience I don't think mulchers are compatible with Irish weather.
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Was advised same when buying a lawnmower, was told that wet mulch encourages moss growth? If you have a vegetable patch I would advise composting the grass cuttings and using it as compost. This does not generate as much compost as you might think as the cuttings shrink alot. Would advise mixing newspaper to stop the texture turning too soft :) It's a shame that so much grass cuttings end up in landfill.
 
thebop said:
Apologies if this has been asked already. Anyone any advice for the best way to get rid of grass? I read somehwere about a mulch mower has anyone any experience of this? All replies greatly appreciated!
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Recycling centres usually have a green waste facility.
If you are composting it you'll need to mix it with about a third of "brown waste", which is a lot of brown waste given the amount of grass clippings a lawn produces in our climate.
A few inches of it in the compost bin makes for a great activator. Just don't over do it.
 
Thanks for those replies. We've thought about composting but we don't have a very big garden. We prob won't bother with the mulch mower now as it's very expensive. I guess it'll be a case of loading the car up and heading for the landfill.
Thanks again.
 
Our bin company says that they won't take grass cuttings, but I've never had any problems from simply bagging it up and slinging it into the black bin. Its not as if they go through each bin checking the contents. I don't feel bad because it not dangerous or industrial/commercial waste like asbestos or solvents. So am I doing anything legally wrong? Or just morally? XD
 
I only have a red bin for recyclables, a black bin for landfill, and a red box for glass. When I lived in England I had a green bin for green waste (including raw kitchen vegetable scraps and cardboard) a black bin for landfill, a box for recyclables, a box for paper, and a box for glass.

I didn't think about the decomposition of greenery causing problems with gas at the landfill - I just thought it would make a nice rich humus. So now I feel bad :(
 
I just ordered new bins from Wastepal and we get a compost/green bin from them along with the regular and recycling ones. I think it's a new company but judging from the number of their bins I've seen around, they're popular. Not sure if they're in your area though.
Not affiliated.
 
Cheers for that bubly scot. Haven't heard of Wastepal but will google them and see if they are anywhere near me.
 
Sylvester3 said:
Its not as if they go through each bin checking the contents.
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According to an article on green bin recycling in the Irish Times Magazine at the beginning of this year, the contents are put on a conveyor belt and staff (mostly eastern European) sort out the items, ie paper, plastic, aluminimum, non-recycleables, etc. It may be the same with the black bin.
Note, the accurancy/truth of this article has been disputed on this website, as has other items published in the Irish Times in general. Not by me, but by others. I know... yeah.... :confused:

Sylvester3 said:
I don't feel bad because it not dangerous or industrial/commercial waste like asbestos or solvents.
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When grass ferments, it is silage. Silage is a major polluter of the water systems in this country. If de-oxegenates the water. Similarly with milk... it's worth thinking again before unnecessarily rinsing your milk cartons before throwing them in the bin.

Sylvester3 said:
So am I doing anything legally wrong? Or just morally? XD
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Legally, probably not. Morally, you choose.

Sylvester3 said:
Our bin company says that they won't take grass cuttings, but I've never had any problems from simply bagging it up and slinging it into the black bin. Its not as if they go through each bin checking the contents. I don't feel bad because it not dangerous or industrial/commercial waste like asbestos or solvents. So am I doing anything legally wrong? Or just morally? XD
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Yeah, I get the picture. I think I will be investing in a big composting bin for the back garden in the near future...:eek:
 
By putting your grass clippings into the black bin, you are sending your waste to be landfilled, where during its breakdown, it'll produce gas and leachate which has to be collected & treated, therefore making landfills more difficult to manage.
The Plan going forward is to divert all organic waste away from landfill into green waste and other composting facilities, as well as subjecting it to other Mechanical and Biological Treatments.
This way the waste can be processed to produce compost, gas or fuel for incinerators (!!).
Its a bit daft to send it to landfill as you pay through the nose and you are burying something which is quite amenable to simple processes designed to recover its value.
Legally, there may be local bye laws requiring you not to put in into your black bin, but you're unlikely, right now, to get caught, though it does tick (ahem) the operators off.
If I may digress a little, there is also a new ban on gypsum based materials going to landfill also (plasterboard) because of the fact that when organic material (such as grass clippings) break down in its presence, it generates hydrogen sulphide gas, which is fairly nasty stuff, occupationally and environmentally speaking.
Best thing to do with your own grass clippings is compost it yourself, its easy peasy really, or else put in in your brown bin, absolutely acceptable, or else transport it to your local civic amenity centre and into the green waste receptacle, or otherwise, and I'm not condoning this, just lash it on a piece of waste ground out of sight, and in relatively neat fashion (without other contaminants), and it'll just return itslef to good old Mother Earth.
 
Most of the options for grass clipping disposal are summarised in this article..... [broken link removed]
 
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