If you’re thinking of doing some yard work while at home because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the City of Moose Jaw has good news.

To accommodate for more people possibly doing yard work, the city has added a second Free Yard Waste Weekend in May.

The first will take place this weekend and another will be May 15-17.

The change comes after city administration presented a report to city council on residential waste since the Public Health Order was issued by the province.

There was some discussion on moving the weekly collection schedule ahead a month from its original start date of June 1.

The numbers showed that the amount of waste collected in the past two months has actually been less than last year. In March of 2019, the city collected over 224,000 kg of garbage compared to 214,000 this year.

There were just under 300,000 kg of waste collected in April of 2019 and 274,000 kg collected this April.

“We’re not exactly sure why that is. We double-checked the figures to ensure we were correct. The numbers are accurate,” said City Manager Jim Puffalt.

“We did poll some of the other cities on Friday and today to see if their numbers were the same and it’s across the board. Some communities are experiencing an increase, some are experiencing a decrease, and some are staying the same.”

Councilors Scott McMann and Heather Eby said they have heard from residents complaining that their garbage is full. However, they couldn’t dispute the numbers and felt an additional free yard waste weekend is a fair trade-off.

“I could live with the compromise of two free weekends at the landfill,” McMann said. “Certainly, I think that would be quite responsible of us and may take some pressure off of people if there are only small numbers that are really affected.”

For the free weekends, the city will waive the $10 tipping fee for leaves, grass clippings, and branches no longer than one inch in diameter. The city does ask that materials are packed in clear or orange bags for easy inspection.

The landfill is open Monday to Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.