Stop Blowing Grass Clippings Into the Street—It Can Cost You

You’ve finished mowing the lawn and trimming the edges along the sidewalk with your string trimmer. Now you have those grass clippings all over your driveway to contend with. Why not just blow them into the street? Well, for starters, doing so can cause problems with the local sewer, create hazards for your neighbors, and it might even be illegal depending on where you live. 

Related: Mowing Too Early Can Destroy Your Lawn—Experts Warn

Why Blowing Clippings Into the Street is Bad

Blowing lawn clippings into the street is a bad idea for several reasons:

It Can Clog Storm Drains

When you blow grass clippings into the street, they often end up in storm drains. From there they flow into local water ways, where the grass clippings break down. While grass clippings are organic, they also contain a fair amount of excess nitrogen, which gets released into the waterway, causing algae growth. 

It’s Illegal

Many cities and counties have ordinances banning people from blowing grass or yard waste into public areas, including streets. They do this to prevent clippings from washing into storm drains and to prevent debris from causing motor vehicle accidents. Violating this ordinance by blowing grass into the street can result in a hefty fine. 

They Can Create Safety Issues

When you blow excess clippings into the street, they can actually make the surface slippery. Not unlike wet leaves, a layer of freshly cut grass in the street can create a hazard for unsuspecting runners, cyclists, and pedestrians. 

Your Cheating Your Lawn

Grass clippings are a free form of fertilizer for your lawn. By blowing them out into the street, instead of back onto your yard, you’re depriving your lawn of that nitrogen content that can feed it. 

Related: The First Lawn Cut of Spring Can Make or Break Your Grass

What You Should Do

Rather than send those clippings into the street, use a mulch kit on your mower to shred them and send them back into your lawn, where they’ll break down and nourish the soil. If the clippings are too long, then bag them up or rake them up and dispose of them in a bag of a dedicated yard waste bin.