SOMERS, Wis. — With leaves all over the ground in Wisconsin, organizations such as the Root-Pike Watershed Initiative Network (WIN) are encouraging the public to make sure these leaves don’t get into local waterways.

The University of Wisconsin-Parkside is doing its part to make sure leaves don’t get into the local storm drains.

Groundskeeper Bobbie Poppie and her team gather up the fallen leaves around campus.

“In the fall time, it could be happening twice a week because of the amount of leaves that are on the tree and they result in going on the sidewalks which could be slippery and on the roads,” Poppie said.

Once the leaves are in a pile, Poppie puts them in a leaf sucker. She then takes them to the campus compost.

“Another thing is to retain the leaves so we can reuse them as a natural mulch,” Poppie said.

In the spring, composted leaves will help with the campus garden.

“As a campus, we think it is really important for sustainability,” Poppie said. “This is not garbage. This is a natural resource that can be used over. It can go back into the earth. It can be reused. It’s not garbage.”

Kristi Heuser is a stormwater consultant for Root-Pike WIN. Heuser said like UW-Parkside, homeowners should keep leaves away from storm drains.

“As they break down, they turn into phosphorus and nitrogen,” Heuser said. “Phosphorus is the reason we have algal blooms in our leaves and rivers. When you have too much algae, that ultimately sucks the oxygen out of the water and then you start to see your ecosystem struggle from there.”

Heuser encouraged homeowners to keep leaves in their yards.

“If you can mulch up your leaves using a lawnmower and then spread them out throughout your site, then it’s natural fertilizer that you don’t have to purchase,” Heuser said.

Another option is to compost, just like Poppie and UW-Parkside.