Why Raking Leaves Is BAD for the Environment! [PHOTOS]

Here's the perfect excuse not to spend the weekend raking the leaves...apparently, it's killing the environment.

The National Wildlife Federation posted an article called "Why You Should Leave The Leaves" in September, but now that the rest of us who are searching for a reason NOT to do the daunting task, it's gone viral!

DJ the Wonder Dog LOVES the leaves...but she's no help in getting rid of them.

The jist of the article is that leaves create mini ecosystems, and are used for shelter, food, and nesting material for birds, chipmunks, butterflies, and other cuteness.

33 MILLION TONS of leaves and other yard debris end up in landfills every year...and when they're bagged up, they don't get enough oxygen to decompose and the methane the create contributes to climate change.

Of course, not raking can kill your grass.  So if you're worried about THAT part, they say turn them into compost, or do what I do....mow 'em down and mulch em, so they get absorbed back into the soil.

Then again, you'd still be effectively rendering helpless chipmunks homeless.