BINGHAMTON – To help stem the tomato blight now affecting much of the Northeast, the City of Binghamton asks that residents take the following measures when disposing of tomato plants:

Do not place tomato plants in the yard waste collected weekly by the city. Instead, put them outside in a clear plastic bag on your weekly garbage pick-up day.

After being collected by the city, yard waste is converted into mulch, which is then used for a variety of agricultural and gardening purposes. Isolating tomato plants from the mulch stream will assist in preventing the blight from spreading.

The city will notify residents when this precaution is lifted.