About those leaves in my yard

So, I was driving through town and I noticed the many piles of leaves in the road. Why, I asked myself, are these leaves not being used to help the flowers and hedges grow? I use all of the leavse in my huge yard to nurture my nature. Growing up, after we all played games with the many leaves in the yard for weeks the leaves were broken down enough to help feed the earth around the gardens. If you are already raking your leaves to the curb why don't you try raking them around your trees and bushes instead? The leaves will help to insulate your garden and when they break down over the winter they fertilize the soil.  Maybe you don't think you have time to rake the leaves but you don't need to rake them all, even a small amount of leaves will help. Leaves can also be used as an excellent mulch helping to control the weeds. We never thought the leaves should be used in a landfill. Or maybe leaves really do help break down trash! I don't know, but all of my leaves will be feeding my gardens again this season.