(Washington, DC) Every year, thousands of trees in the District's residential areas drop thousands of tons of leaves into yards and onto houses, driveways, sidewalks and cars. As part of its annual operations, the District Department of Public Works (DPW) deploys personnel with leaf vacs and leaf blowers, packers, dump trucks and roll-offs to tackle the daunting job of clearing away these leaves from public space, as well as private property.

This year, the city's leaf collection program lasts from November 5, 2002 through January 12, 2003. A complement of nearly 200 sanitation workers and 120 pieces of equipment will be detailed exclusively to residential leaf collection.

For more efficient collection of leaves, each ward has been divided into collection zones. DPW will vacuum leaves from curbside tree boxes on each street, in each zone, at least twice. Additionally, bagged leaves will be collected from curbside and alley collection sites. Last fall, DPW collected nearly 9,000 tons of leaves in the District. After collection, the leaves are added to the compost site at the Ft. Totten Trash Transfer Station at 4900 Bates Road, NE.

A brochure containing a detailed leaf collection schedule was mailed to households across the District in early October to give residents ample time to plan for "leaf season." Brochures can also be found at DC public libraries.