A few annoyed residents have called City Hall to complain garbage crews didn’t take their bags and cans full of grass clippings this week.

It’s a sign of a new, cost- and environmentally conscious status quo taking root, according to officials.

Effective this spring, the city is no longer collecting grass clippings, in bags or cans, and definitely not loose at the curb.

“Picking up clippings was a colossal waste of money; it’s an avoidable cost,” Mayor Michael Tucker said. “We can’t keep doing things the way we always did ’em.”

The Common Council made the decision last fall, when Streets Superintendent Mike Hoffman sought a $20,000 boost for the nearly drained trash tipping fees account. The Council told him “no” and instructed him to find a way to cut trash collection costs, instead.

Hoffman estimated it costs about $30,000 a year for the city to dispose of grass clippings, based on the per-ton fee it paid an incinerator to take grass. The figure translated easily to a decision to cease grass collection.

As of this month, the city is now contracting with Modern Disposal, a landfiller, whose per-ton tipping fee is less than the incinerator charged, but the decision to refrain from grass pickup will stand, Hoffman said.

“It doesn’t cause trouble for the environment to landfill it, but there are still good reasons not to pay to throw away grass: There’s strain on the equipment, there are trucking costs,” he said. “Why not compost or mulch it? Then your carbon footprint is less.”

Tucker has taken a dozen or so calls from residents complaining they’re being stripped of a tax-paid service without a cut in the city tax rate.

“Somebody said to me, ‘I pay $7,000 in taxes and I expect this service.’ And I said it’s because of stupid things like this that he’s paying that high a tax bill,” Tucker said. “Taxes won’t go down because we stopped taking grass, but the cost of everything else always goes up, so we have to stop doing some non-essential things to avoid taxes going up.”

Officials have suggested the alternatives to raking and bagging grass clippings are using a mulching lawn mower or fitting an existing mower with a mulching blade. “Mulching” basically means cutting the grass into smaller pieces and leaving it.

Greg Weber, manager of Spalding Hardware store, suggested that won’t be the ideal solution for everyone.

“A mulching blade works better on higher-end mowers; on the cheapest machines, it doesn’t work all that well,” he said. “Even with the better machines, you’ll still have to mow more often” while grass is growing.

In lieu of mulching or landfilling grass clippings, Weber suggested composting as one alternative.

Niagara County Landfill will accept grass clippings free of charge for composting, but it’s up to you to get them there, Hoffman said.

The city compost plant cannot accept grass clippings. Grass is too damp to mix with sludge at the plant; the mix doesn’t meet state environmental standards, Fourth Ward Alderman Pat Schrader said.

The city will continue collecting other yard waste — weeds, trimmings, et cetera — in cans or bags for landfilling. Open leaf collection still is in autumn only.

Contact reporter Joyce Miles at 439-9222, ext. 6245.

RECYCLE CLIPPINGS

In lieu of mulching or landfilling grass clippings, Greg Weber, manager of Spalding Hardware, suggests:

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MAKE COMPOST:

A pre-made, 3-foot-by-3 foot compost bin is adequate for the average-size city lot. Dump in grass clippings, weeds and other vegetable matter, add a chemical to speed decomposition, turn the contents regularly and make your own rich soil.

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CREATE A WEED BLOCK:

Before planting a home garden, cover the soil surface with newspaper, then cover the paper with a layer of grass clippings, to stop weeds from taking root.