As leaves begin to fall, the City of Evanston is issuing reminders to residents regarding seasonal services and cleanup activities, including food and yard waste pickup and street cleaning.

Food and Yard Waste Pickup
The final week for 2019 food and yard waste pickup will be December 9-12. Food and yard waste is collected on residents’ normal refuse pickup day. Residents may dispose of food and yard waste via a City of Evanston food and yard waste cart. Yard waste may also be disposed of using a paper yard waste bag affixed with a City of Evanston sticker.

Food Scrap Composting Program
The City’s exclusive food scrap hauler, Collective Resource, provides a 16-week Winter Gap composting program where residents can pay a one-time fee to have a composting bucket dropped off at their residence for weekly/bikweekly pickup. Collections will take place the week of December 9 through the week of March 30. To sign up for this service, residents should contact Collective Resource directly by either filling out their contact form, or calling 847-733-7665.

Leaf Blowers
Backpack mounted or handheld gasoline-powered leaf blowers can be used September 30 through December 5, during the following times: Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday, Sunday and holidays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Individuals are prohibited from blowing or raking leaves into the street, as this can block sewers and cause flooding. Violators are subject to fines. 

Street Cleaning
The City will conduct additional street cleaning on residential streets in November and December to clear leaves and other debris. Street signage will be updated with the additional street cleaning dates. The schedule can also be found at cityofevanston.org/streetcleaning. Parking restrictions will be enforced. Street cleaning operations will continue through December 13, weather permitting. As a reminder, even after leaves are collected, street cleaning vehicles may return. Residents are reminded to not park on the street during the restricted times. 

Residents can sign up to receive convenient street cleaning text message and email notifications reminding them to move their vehicles on street cleaning days. Notifications are sent one to two days prior to the actual street cleaning day. 

For more information, please call/text 847-448-4311 or simply dial 3-1-1 while in Evanston.