Keeping Up Composting During COVID-19
[Updated 8/7/20]
Food Scrap Drop-off sites and Curbside Composting service were suspended throughout NYC in spring of 2020 due to budget cuts related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please see the following for more information on Zero Waste program suspensions:
- Notice on the Suspension of GrowNYC’s Recycling Programs (PDF)
- NYC Sanitation Service Changes Related to COVID-19 Budget Cuts - April 17, 2020
The good news? Due to broad public support, the City Council restored some funding to allow GrowNYC and our partners at NYC Compost Project to resume limited services this fall.
Visit our Compost Program page for updates as our food scrap drop-off sites re-open. For a list of currently-open food scrap drop-off locations and residential pick-up services, see @ahealthyblueprint's crowd-sourced NYC Food Scrap Drop-off During COVID-19.
Clothing collections at Greenmarkets remain closed. To schedule a pick-up of textiles for a fee, please contact Wearable Collections.
How to Keep Composting When Food Scrap Drop-Off Sites are Temporarily Closed
1) Reduce Food Waste
Creating less waste is always best. Learn how to store produce, check the shelf life for fruits and veggies, use up or preserve what you can’t use right away, get creative with your cooking, and learn some foods you can regrow from scraps!
2) Compost at Home
Compost the way New Yorkers did “back in the day” with a home composting system. Dust off your backyard bin,or order an indoor worm bin. Either way, composting is a great activity to keep busy, teach kids science, and finally get that pet you’ve been wanting!
Outdoor Composting
If you have access to private outdoor space, this is an option for you! If you already have an outdoor compost bin, all you’ll need to get started are some leaves and food scraps. Brush up on outdoor composting with this guide from the NYC Compost Project. If you don’t yet have a bin, you can purchase online, find plans to make your own, or simply drill holes in a metal trash can. Remember that composting is an active, controlled process that requires effort beyond simply separating your food scraps and putting them outside. Scraps must be covered and properly managed--especially important in an urban environment!
Indoor Composting
No outdoor space? Do not despair! You can feed your food scraps to red wigglers, the most adorable and most voracious worms out there. If you have a lidded plastic bin and a drill, this can be a very cheap DIY project for just the cost of some red wiggler worms, which you can purchase online. If you’d rather buy a ready-to-use worm bin, search online for a bin that suits your needs and style.
To get started composting with worms, check out the NYC Compost Project’s indoor composting guide and keep a troubleshooting guide handy for reference as you go. We recommend freezing fruit scraps to prevent fruit flies and adding small amounts of food at a time as your worms adjust (Note: worms can be picky. They love apples, but aren’t so fond of citrus rinds). Stick with it and you’ll have fun watching the process and creating food for your plants.
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