Home-made compost piles help reduce algae

Nutrients found in falling leaves may create problems for local water systems in the spring.

During fall, leaves lose their usefulness and are dropped from the tree.

When leaves fall from tress, they take with them some leftover nutrients.

In large amounts, these nutrients can reach unnatural levels.

“A little is ok and probably necessary to keep the system going but too much causes real havoc,” said SCSU professor of Environmental and Technological Studies Nichner Bender.

In a natural process the nutrients from fallen leaves would remain in forested areas and eventually be recycled back into the soil.

“Nutrients are always a resource,” SCSU Professor of Environmental and Technological studies Charles Rose said.

“Sometimes they’re a resource out of place.”

Rose said human activity increases the amount of leaves that fall out of place. “Basically, we make the water flow faster,” Rose said.

Paved roads, sidewalks and parking lots increase the rate of water run0off which means water is not able to immediately absorb into the ground and must keep flowing to where it comes in contact with soil.

Leaves from paved areas and their nutrients are carried by the water and many end up in storm drains or local rivers.

Once more leaves and nutrients are in the water, more organisms feed on the leftover nutrients and in return, take up more oxygen than what is natural.

Other life forms in the water system then have less oxygen to use themselves.

“Most people in Minnesota are familiar with green, slimy lakes in the summer,” Bender said.

The algae that creates the type of green slime is also a product of increased nutrients in the water system.

While Bender said some people might find the algae unpleasant to look at, it can also become mildly hazardous.

Rose said algae can occasionally produce harmful toxins. These toxins can be hazardous to the environment as well as kill livestock and family pets that drink the infested water.

These negative impacts can be decreased if people take care of the leaves that fall in their yard.

Bender said he has seen people shove leaves down storm drains as a way of disposing them. This only adds to the problem of increased nutrients in the water at a faster rate.

Rather than put leaves down storm drains, Bender suggested people build their own compost piles.

Piling leaves into one large pile away from paved areas can turn into compost piles.

Keeping the pile moist and adding meatless table scraps can help the material break down into a compost.

Sender said a six-foot pile of leaves can turn into a two-foot pile of compost within one year.

That compost can then be used for gardening.

Those that do not want to make their own compost piles can still take steps to make sure their leaves do not end up in the wrong place.

City waste bags can be purchased, filled with leaves and then left for collection.

These leaves are then taken to the St. Cloud River Bluffs Regional Park Compost Site. Those that bring leaves to the site can also take some compost home with them.

Private and public compost sites mimic the work that would be done in the natural process.

Compost can be used to make soil richer or to protect plant bulbs during the winter.

“If they’re (nutrients) on the farmer’s field growing corn or growing roses in a rose bed, then that’s where you want them,” Rose said.