Sacramento Leaf Season Begins: Street Leaf Piles Now Collected by the Claw
The City of Sacramento, California, has announced that the 2026 leaf season officially began on November 2: once residents have filled their curbside yard-waste container, extra leaves and yard trimmings may be piled in the street for collection by the city's "Claw" crews, and the leaves will be processed into compost.
Jesa David, a spokesperson for the city's Recycling and Solid Waste Division, said a Claw crew pairs a tractor with a rear-loading truck and will make at least seven full passes through more than 100 neighborhood zones. Containers are collected 13 times for every seven Claw passes, and the city asks residents to fill their container first before piling material in the street.
Piles must follow size and placement rules: no larger than 4 feet by 4 feet by 9 feet, kept out of storm drains and bike lanes, and placed clear of parked vehicles. Private streets without curb and gutter, and commercial properties that are not city customers, are not eligible for Claw collection.
The city said the collection schedule changes daily, and residents should check the city's Collection Calendar or SacRecycle.org to confirm their zone's dates before putting piles out, so leaves do not sit in the street longer than necessary.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 萨克拉门托市政厅外景。 The Sacramento City Hall. CC BY-SA 2.0，摄影：Vahe Martirosyan。图片来源 Source image: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sacramento,_City_Hall,_2020.07.10_(01)_1_(50183461601).jpg
