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April 2021 Citizen ConnectionYard Waste Do’s and Don’ts Yard waste collection is a subscription-based service that customers must opt into to receive service. Yard waste includes grass clippings, leaves, weeds, fruit and vegetables scraps, small twigs, and loose coffee grounds. Once customers have opted-in, yard waste will be collected curbside weekly. Two subscription options are available and described below. To opt-in to yard waste service, call Customer Service at (940) 349-8700, or skip the line by calling the automated phone line at (940) 349-8740. Subscription Options: Cart Service: Purchase a $20 Cart (one-time fee) with a $0.50 monthly service fee. Yard waste cart emptied weekly and collection of an unlimited number of kraft bags. Weekly collection of up to four cubic yards* of brush. Kraft Bag Service: Purchase kraft bags from a local retailer with a $1 monthly service fee. Collection of an unlimited number of kraft bags and collection of up to four cubic yards* of brush. *Size Reference: Four cubic yards of brush is roughly the size of four washing machines. For more information, visit our Yard Waste & Brush website at www.cityofdenton.com/yardwaste. Protecting your Ash Trees The Emerald Ash Borer (EAB) is an invasive exotic borer native to Asia that attacks and kills all species of ash trees. It was first discovered near Detroit, Michigan in 2002 and has since spread to 35 states, killing hundreds of millions of ash trees. On May 7, 2020, City of Denton staff captured what was believed to be an EAB, which was officially confirmed by the national lab in Michigan. If you think your trees may be infested with EAB or you think you see EAB in public areas, here are some tips to follow. Three ways to identify an ash tree: A. Opposite branching: each branch has a branch on the opposite side of the limb. B. Compound leaves: five to nine leaflets per leaf connected to one stem. C. Diamond-pattern bark: This pattern appears on mature trees. What are the options for dealing with EAB? • Proactively remove the tree and replant with a non-ash species. • Commit to a preventative treatment program, via trunk injections or soil drench, for the life of the tree. • Do nothing and remove the tree immediately if and when it dies. While treatments can begin after a tree has been infested, generally by the time EAB is detected the infestation is too far gone (less than 50% of crown remaining) for treatments to be effective. Depending on the insecticide used, treatments are required annually or biannually. See the following websites for additional information. If you have any questions, contact the City of Denton Urban Forester, Haywood Morgan, at haywood.morgan@cityofdenton.com. • www.emeraldashborer.info • http://bit.ly/USDAEAB A B C A publication of the City of Denton Department of Public Affairs ADA/EOE/ADEA • TDD (800) 735-2989 • www.cityofdenton.com There will be no curbside collection on Monday, May 31. Residential trash, recycling, and yard waste collection will move forward one day the week of May 31 to June 4 in observance of the Memorial Day holiday. Monday’s route will run on Tuesday; Tuesday’s route will run on Wednesday; Wednesday’s route will run on Thursday; and Thursday’s route will run on Friday. Memorial Day Collection Schedule To view the complete 2021 holiday collection schedule, visit www.dentonrecycles.com. To receive updates about your collection schedule, download the free Engage Denton mobile app. April 22, 2021 marks the 51st anniversary of Earth Day. The way we think about our planet has come a long way in those 51 years, and we have moved from a message of protection to one of restoration. There are so many ways individuals can adopt environmentally conscious decisions into their lives, and not just on Earth Day. The City of Denton Sustainability Department has identified a few ways residents can help our planet and have a huge impact on our community! Understand your Carbon Footprint – In the same way that the City conducts a greenhouse gas inventory to better understand where our carbon emissions come from, there are several online resources for you to do the same! Knowing where carbon emissions are produced in your activities can help all of us better know how to reduce them. Be Air Aware – Sign up for air quality alerts through Air North Texas. On high ozone days, do your best to limit driving and other emission-causing activities such as mowing the lawn. Plant with Purpose – If you have a yard or garden, get more use out of your green space by adding pollinator friendly plants or edible foods. Be a Conscious Consumer – Our choices in the items we buy are critical to our environmental impact. By choosing long-lasting, reusable, or multipurpose items, we can reduce the overall amount of materials we use and waste! Visit earthday.org for more ways to get engaged and follow City of Denton Sustainability on Facebook for more Earth Day information! Earth Day 2021 Electric Usage Monitoring To give customers greater control of their home energy usage, the City of Denton offers a free electricity monitoring service through MyUsage. You can join 1,000+ other Denton Municipal Electric customers who see their daily electric consumption alongside the high and low temperatures for the day. This allows users to see the impacts of weather on their electric use. Additionally, impacts of conservation efforts and personal electric use habits can be tracked and monitored with MyUsage. Usage monitoring reflects daily reads gathered from Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) meters, which only provides data for electric services. To get started, register at www.myusage.com. To make the process as simple as possible, step by step registration instructions are available at www.cityofdenton.com/paymybill. Users may also download the MyUsage mobile app, which is available through the Google Play or Apple Store. Mark Storm Drains in Your Neighborhood We need your help! Volunteers are needed to help prevent pollution from entering our local waterways. Stormwater runoff from urban areas picks up pollutants and trash as it flows over parking lots, streets, yards, and driveways on its way into a storm drain inlet. Water that flows down the drain when it leaves our homes is cleaned at a sewage treatment facility before it’s released into local waterways, but water that flows into storm drains is not treated before it is released. This means that pollutants including household chemicals like soap, paint, grass clippings, fertilizer, pesticides, litter, pet waste, and automotive products like motor oil, gasoline and antifreeze end up in our creeks, rivers, and lakes. Pollutants can impact water quality, harm plants and wildlife, and clog drains, which increases the chance of flooding around the inlet. Dumping pollutants directly into the storm drain not only harms the environment but is illegal and can result in a fine! These reasons are why volunteers are needed to help prevent pollution from entering local waterways! Storm drain inlet marking kits and instructions are available for free to any individual, group, or community volunteer for installation at storm drain inlets city-wide. Inlet markers serve as a visual reminder not to dump pollutants into the storm drain or contribute to stormwater runoff by littering, over-fertilizing, or sweeping yard debris in the street. Only rain should go down the storm drain! For additional information or to receive a kit, email Watershed@cityofdenton.com.