You Can No Longer Put Yard Waste In Plastic Bags In Tampa
For those of you who rake up leaves and twigs in your yard and put them in those big black plastic yard bags, you need to listen up. You can…
Woman collects trash in the bag. Garbage collection from the territory. Close-up. Background.
Photo credit: Getty RFFor those of you who rake up leaves and twigs in your yard and put them in those big black plastic yard bags, you need to listen up. You can no longer put yard waste plastic bags in Tampa. This is according to a story found on Tampa Bays 10. The City of Tampa is banning them starting February 1st.
Any plastic bags full of yard waste left on the curb in Tampa will be left there. They will no longer accept those big black plastic bags. The goal is for all yard waste materials to be composted.
City officials say eliminating plastic bags from collection assures all yard waste will be turned into "mulch". First, this will keep it out of our landfills. Second, it will cut down costs at landfills. Sarasota County stopped accepting yard waste in plastic bags back in May. This was in an effort to increase sustainability and reduce staffing costs at the Central County Landfill. Thirdly, this just is in the city of Tampa, not through out Hillsborough County. Finally, if this new ruling is successful, other cities and counties will probably follow. But as of February 1, you can no longer put yard waste plastic bags in Tampa.
Yard Waste Included:
- Leaves, branches, grass clipping, branches, limbs and logs in 4-foot lengths
- Trees up to 6 feet in length during designated holiday tree collection season
- No soil, dirt, rocks or heavy debris at curbside waste collections
As a good reminder, residents should never burn or rake yard waste into nearby ponds or waterways.
Acceptable Containers Include:
- Reusable bins (32-gallon maximum size)
- Biodegradable paper yard waste bags
- Waste bundled with jute twine
- Items should not weigh more than 50 pounds
To find out more about where all of our trash goes Click HERE
It's always best to try and reduce your waste, be it yard waste and trash waste to keep our landfills from filling up.
The Best Florida Cities For First Time Home Buyers
There are many people in Florida that are first time home buyers. A new list has come out and a bunch of Florida cities for those buyers. WalletHub has released their annual list of the best and worst cities in the United States for first time home buyers. There are five Florida cities in the Top 10. What's even better than than is that all of the Florida cities are the first five on the list.
The way WalletHub came up with the list is they compared 300 cities of varying sizes across 22 key indicators. Those indicators are of market attractiveness, affordability and quality of life. They say, "Where a home is located is just as important as what features it has. If the neighborhood is unpleasant, it can sour the experience of a great home. Potential buyers may want to narrow their search down to an area with a good reputation before getting into housing details."
It is pretty cool that Florida is a great state for first time home buyers, but what are the worst cities for them? Well, nine of the Top 10 worst cities are in California. Additionally, the only non-California city is Anchorage, Alaska, which is #3. Berkeley, California is the #1 worst city followed by Santa Monica.
Finally, check out the five best Florida cities for first time home buyers below. Yes, they are #1 through #5.
Palm Bay
The #1 overall best city for first time home buyers to move to. Palm Bay is located just south of Melbourne on the east coast of Florida.
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Cape Coral
Located next to Ft. Myers, Cape Coral comes in #2 in Florida and #2 in the United States. It has the #2 overall real estate market.
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Tampa
Yes, first time home buyers love Tampa. Tampa comes in #3 overall. Tampa also ranks #1 overall for quality of life.
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Port St. Lucie
Located about an hour north of West Palm Beach on Florida east coast comes in #4 overall. Port St. Lucie is the #1 overall real estate market right now.
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Orlando
Finally, the fifth Florida city and #5 on the list of the best cities for first time home buyers is Orlando.
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