Taking collective action to remove leaves from drains and gutters.

Make a difference in your community by preventing leaf litter from entering Canberra’s waterways.

Children cleaning up dead leaves and putting them into bags and a bin.

Our Mission

Slimy surfaces, no-swim orders, and foul smells often plague Canberra’s lakes. We’re on a mission to change that.

The Leaf Collective are the people and organisations who’ve come together to remove leaves from drains and gutters, preventing them from flowing into Canberra’s waterways and fuelling algal blooms.

345,000+
litres of leaves were stopped from going down drains

100’s
of people have shared how they recycled their leaves

25+
suburbs in Canberra have gotten involved

Get Involved

Together, we can help stop Canberra’s algal blooms.

Here’s how you can take action today.

A person putting dead leaves into a green waste bin with autumn trees in the background.

Use your green bin

Leaves, weeds, grass clippings, cuttings, trimmings, twigs and sticks.

A person wearing gardening gloves using gardening tools to work soil.

Compost your leaves

Help improve your soil structure and keep its pH balance in check.

Leaf towers made from wood, metal, and wire mesh for leaf mulch or mould.

Store your leaves

Compost can be a garden feature that feeds the garden as it breaks down.

A large area outside with large piles of leaf waste, and chopped of branches on the ground.

Drop off your leaves

Drop your leaves off to a host of ACT Leaf Donation points.

View map

Adopt a tree or drain

Collect leaves that fall from the tree or end up near your drain.

A person holding a phone with a leaf bag with leaves on the screen

Track your leaves

Simply enter how much leaf litter you collected and what you did with it.

Click here

Get Garden ACtive

Get your leaves working for you.

Grow your green thumb! Get expert tips and tricks, access how-to blogs, learn how to help your garden flourish and connect with other gardeners.

A close up photo of dead autumn leaves that are of different shades of red and orange.

4 creative ways to reuse leaves in your garden

Hands holding leaf compost, the benefits of leaf compost

The benefits of leaf compost in your garden

A group of elderly people smiling for a photo.

Find a Canberra gardening group near you

See more gardening tips

Get Informed

Learn more about the scientific research behind The Leaf Collective.

Follow @theleafcollectiveACT

Follow on Facebook

The Leaf Collective is contributing to the prevention of algal blooms in Canberra’s waterways. Since launching the pilot program in 2021 more than 345,000L of leaves have been diverted from storm water drains.