Montclair's environmental conscience Pat Kenschaft tells us that the big pile of woodchips from last month's storm are going, going fast:
Big machines are taking away Montclair's valuable woodchips from the end of Montclair Avenue. Homeowners who want this treasure need to act fast. An inquiry into why we are being denied access to them was given the response that the township is afraid of the legal liability.How very, very sad. Waste not, want not. Those woodchips are very valuable. Recently I received a general email saying how dangerous to human health treated woodchips are, and it isn't easy to get woodchips that aren't treated. Hurry if you want some GOOD, safe woodchips free!
Kenschaft tells more about the woodchips in this previous e-newsletter:
Recently posted on the Montclair WaterCooler: "There are mounds of mulch a plenty at Erie Park (adjacent to the Walnut Street Station). My neighbor and I trucked many loads to our yards on Christopher Street yesterday. Although many of the mounds have the leaves from branches mixed in, they still contain a high percentage of quality wood chips that will remain after the leaves break down. There must be 30 piles there ripe for the shoveling."Two of you said you "heard" that woodchips should be "treated" before being used. I assume that "treated" means "poisoned." Would you want to put poisons on your property? I don't. We get only one planet, so I plead with you to take your chances with whatever it is that you are afraid of.
On the other hand the municipality is reluctant to take legal responsibility for advertising the woodchips, which makes sense in this suit-happy culture. I have never had any problems with free township woodchips. Indeed, the only fertilizer my garden has had for well over a decade has been such woodchips, my neighbors' grassclippings, and bags of leaves that people in nearby towns leave on their curbs (since for years Montclair allowed people to rake them loose into the street). All of these have unknown accompaniments in metropolitan NYC. Before that I also used the product of nearby stables, with the possibility of getting horses' diseases. I ALWAYS composed that before using it, however, so it was safer. The woodchips, grass clippings, and leaves I often use for mulch without composting first.
My garden looks lush, and my health has been MUCH better since I've been eating its products. Take those woodchips! Enjoy the windfall, and make the town feel useful. If you're a Montclair resident, save yourself the taxes that will otherwise be needed to take the chips to another place to be processed. 'Tis an ill wind that blows no good!
Sorry, my doctor told me I have to cut down on carbs.