SELL YOUR LEAVES

A website called Cash 4 Leaves is paying New England residents for their foliage. Through the rest of the autumn season, Cash 4 Leaves is offering $1 per maple leaf from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Rhode Island or Connecticut, with the company buying leaves in quantities of 100. Cash 4 Leaves is the supplier to ShipFoliage.com, which creates leaf-centric products and gifts. There are stipulations, though: Leaves cannot have “visible imperfections, mold, bugs, tears or excessive decay,” and must be red, orange, yellow, or a blend of all three. Browned leaves are forbidden, and “even the smallest parts with brown will be rejected.” Interested parties are asked to send five photos of their best leaf to the company, and staffers will then reach out if the leaves are worthy. If so, they’ll prepare an agreement to purchase leaves in quantities of 100. If not, leaves will be returned.
* This is most definitely the whitest thing I’ve ever heard.
* That’s one way to … RAKE … in the dough.
* Who says money doesn’t grow on trees?
* Leaf-centric products and gifts. Sounds like an idea that would be laughed off “Shark Tank”.
* So the maple trees get nothing out of this deal? That doesn’t seem fair.
* Why doesn’t ShipFoliage.com just plant their own maple trees? Okay, I’m so overthinking this.