It’s that time again – driving around town where there are massive piles of leaves hanging out in the gutters of our streets for weeks on end.

I guess people don’t know that you’re not supposed to push out the leaves until a specified week on the calendar.  Otherwise, the leaves clog up the sewer drains with junky muddy leafy muckety globs of mess.  And it ain’t fun with the winter thaw that comes along.

photo: livingstonpatch.com

Here’s the leaf collection schedule once and for all – hopefully people will pitch-in and hold off from clogging our roads all month long.

Leaves may be placed at the curb line or in the gutter of that portion of the
public street adjacent to the property from which the leaves are being disposed of
only during the annual leaf collection program in accordance with the times and
dates of the published leaf collection program schedule. Leaves shall not be
placed closer than 10 feet from any storm drain inlet or catch basin and may be
in the street gutter only for a maximum period of 7 days before their actual
collection.

And guess what, supposedly it is a ticketable offense too.

But as we continue to recycle more and more of our consumables as time goes by, batteries have been added to the list.

The next time you check in at the Livingston Library by the Oval, you can bring your dead, old batteries and drop them off for recycling.

There’s no fee to drop them off and you can bring as much as you can.  I just dropped off one of those big fat cube 6v lantern batteries.  It was heavy to lug, but felt good dropping it off knowing that it will be processed appropriately and recycled if possible.

Apparently, there are a couple of places in Livingston, where you can drop off used batteries now –  household batteries can be dropped off at recycling bins at the front steps of the Livingston Public Library, Community Center (on Hillside av) and Northland Recreation Center.

Do you still use alkaline batteries? Or have you gone all rechargeable batteries with the 21st century?

When getting out of the house in the morning, it is easy to see that people are still confused about what to put out on the curb since there isn’t full agreement of curbside bins.  Most recycling days still have some houses putting out paper goods, and others putting out co-mingled plastic and metal for recycling.  In theory, everyone should be putting out the same thing.

Another odd thing is to see some random things being put curbside for the recycling pick-ups.

First, I wonder if those people know that there is a big and growing list of items that qualify.  But it doesn’t include everything under the sun!

And there’s a published recycling pick-up calendar to let home owners know what type of recycling is due each week — I have mine printed out and taped to the inside of the cabinet door by my recycling bins.  Easy peasy.

Check out the list of Tweeple below.

Some are businesses or service professionals in Livingston, others are students, residents and websites that call Livingston their home.

We’ve assembled the latest list of Twitter accounts along with their profile description and personal websites.

Go ahead, click on the Twitter link URL and start following your fellow peeps of 07039.

Due to the current snow storm, there will be no regular residential solid waste or bulky item pickup by Waste Industries on Friday, February 26th.

WHAT NOW?

• The Friday bulk item pickup collection will be done on Saturday February 27th along with the regularly scheduled Saturday bulky pickup.
• The Friday residential solid waste collection will be done on either Monday (March 1st) or Tuesday (March 2nd).

• Recycling Collection – Zone 5 (Fridays)
  Due to the current snow storm, there will be no regularly scheduled pickup of commingled recyclables in Zone 5 on Friday, February 26th by the First Occupational Recycling & Waste Inc. (FORWI). Weather conditions permitting, commingled recyclables in Zone 5 will be picked up on Saturday, February 27th.

Barnes & Noble of Livingston became bigger and better.  It now resides in the Livingston Mall as a new superstore retail location.

But at the same time, the Barnes & Noble on Route 10 off the Livingston circle is dead.

Completely empty, just waiting to be taken over or space split up and made into a strip mall of little stores and boutiques.  My guess is that someone like Whole Foods could come take over the location and do nicely.

It is so sad to see another restuarant option go out of business…this time the victim is Hale & Hearty Soup.

We never got a chance to try out the NYC-originated super-expensive priced soup joint.  I’m sure you’ve noticed too like us that every time we drove by the store was either empty or closed (at odd hours when you’d think a restaurant would be open).

If you recall, this is the cursed spot where Beyond Bagels used to be.

Wonder what other retail concept would work in this somewhat awkward location right off Livingston Circle on Route 10 Westbound.

Hope someone thinks of something gooooooood to replace Hale & Hearty…something a little heartier I guess! (sorry, couldn’t resist that one)

It’s 2010 right around the corner, and that means time to take down the lights, tree decorations and the tree itself.

Livingston is going green this year again and mulching up all discarded live Christmas trees. Just put your trees out curbside anytime in January Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm and the township will pick them up for free.

The Livingston Department of Public works will chip the trees into mulch (I believe by the Livingston circle, behind the Firehouse). The best part is that the DPW makes all the mulch available to residents for free pick-up, at no cost, while supplies last.

Just call the Livingston DPW at 973-535-7931 for details and to schedule a pick-up.

This afternoon I was supposed to go to the gym. I belong to Lifetime Fitness in Florham Park and hadn’t been there is a while due to medical issues. I am getting ready to start my afternoon when I hear Apple’s version of “You’ve got mail.” A.k.a ding. I really should change that. I look at my inbox and it is my oldest and best customer. I have been supporting his computers forever. “What is my wifi password?” Ding again This one is from my wife. “We have to pay the mortgage today.”

Well, tickle me Elmo, but that is two things I need to do in Livingston today. It looks like I am headed that way. I am guest blogging here, so you guys don’t know this but I need coffee in order to function. Lucky for me the bank is next to the Starbucks in the center of town.

I order my coffee, pay and then feel bad that I don’t have change for a tip. On my way out I see a little wicker basket with some toys on it and a whole bunch of 8.5×11 handouts hanging off it with a binder ring. I tear off the top handout. It is already stained with coffee. “Perfect, this will be good blog material”, I say to myself and walk out the door.

Toy drives are blogger gold. Everyone loves to read about a good toy drive.

I head over to my #1 customers house and walk right in. I don’t need to knock because it is my parent’s house. Dad just upgraded to FIOS and a new Dell pc. I put my stuff down on the reception desk and spend the next couple of hours hanging with Pops, migrating his apps and data

Mom pokes her head in while we are wrapping up and sees the paper on top of my pile of junk. “Who’s is this?” She asks like she doesn’t know. “I have an extra doll still in the box that I have been meaning to donate.” (I laugh to myself because I know why it is surplus. Grandchild #8 came out a boy.) She is now going to donate the toy to the drive at Starbucks.

You see how easy it is to do something good and it can cause someone else to join in? All I did was grab the sheet of paper with the intent to blog about it, and leave it out for someone to see. That drop of good, led to a second drop. Now a local child will have a brand new baby doll this holiday.

I was going to type up all the information that was on that flyer so that it would inspire you to go drop off a toy. Instead, go grab a copy of the flyer for yourself, (and a coffee and tip the barista a little extra for me) and read it. Donate a toy. Then leave the flyer on your desk for a co-worker to see, or on the kitchen table for your teens to see. Give a gift to a child and give the gift of giving to a friend or loved one.

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Scott Farbman is a graduate of Livingston High School and currently writes for BlogMorris.com.
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