The GrowNYC Compost Program is typically focused on collecting your food scraps, but this spring, we’re also giving away free compost made from the food scraps we’ve collected in the last year! This is our annual act of reciprocity: we're closing the loop and giving thanks to the thousands of New Yorkers who have saved their food scraps from landfills by bringing them to our Food Scrap Drop-off sites. Small, 2-pound bags of ready-to-use compost will be available on a first-come, first-served basis while supplies last, as outlined below.
Compost Made in NYC
The compost for this Giveback is provided by two New York City Compost Project host sites: Earth Matter NY and Queens Botanical Garden. If you’ve dropped off food scraps with GrowNYC, then the bag of compost you’ll receive may contain nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium from your very own peels and pits. That’s what we mean when we say “closed loop.”
Compost Giveback Schedule
Quantities are limited and based on average weekly participation at each drop-off site, so consider coming early to make sure you get a bag.
|
2022 COMPOST GIVEBACK DATE 
|
BOROUGH |
LOCATION |
TIME
|
COMPOST MADE BY |
| Friday, April 1 |
Queens |
Corona Food Scrap Drop-off
Roosevelt Ave & 103 St |
8am-1pm |
Queens Botanical Garden |
| Sunday, April 3 |
Queens |
Jackson Heights Greenmarket
79th St and Northern Blvd |
8:30am-2pm |
Queens Botanical Garden |
| Sunday, April 3 |
Queens |
Forest Hills Greenmarket
70th Ave & Austin St |
9am-1pm |
Queens Botanical Garden |
| Thursday, April 7 |
Queens |
Kew Gardens Food Scrap Drop-off
Metropolitan Ave & Audley St |
9:30am-12:30pm |
Queens Botanical Garden |
| Saturday, April 9 |
Queens |
Sunnyside Greenmarket
Skillman Ave & 42nd St |
9am-1pm |
Queens Botanical Garden |
| Saturday, April 9 |
Queens |
Ridgewood Food Scrap Drop-off
Myrtle Ave & Cypress Ave |
9:30am-1:30pm |
Queens Botanical Garden |
| Wednesday, April 27 |
Manhattan |
Madison Sq. Park Food Scrap Drop-off
23rd St & Broadway |
8am-1pm |
Earth Matter |
| Wednesday, April 27 |
Manhattan |
Dag Hammarskjold Plaza Greenmarket
E. 47th St and 2nd Ave |
8am-12:30pm |
Earth Matter |
| Thursday, April 28 |
Manhattan |
181st St Food Scrap Drop-off
181st St & Fort Washington Ave |
7am-12:30pm |
Earth Matter |
| Thursday, April 28 |
Manhattan |
145th St Food Scrap Drop-off
145th St & Edgecombe Ave |
7:30am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Thursday, April 28 |
Manhattan |
Tucker Sq. Greenmarket
66th St & Columbus Ave |
8am-11am |
Earth Matter |
| Thursday, April 28 |
Brooklyn |
Wilson Ave Food Scrap Drop-off
Wilson Ave & Moffat St
|
9am-1pm |
Earth Matter |
| Friday, April 29 |
Manhattan |
97th St Greenmarket
W 97th & Amsterdam |
8am-12:30pm |
Earth Matter |
| Friday, April 29 |
Manhattan |
E 96th St
East 96th St & Lexington Ave |
7:30am-11:30am |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, April 30 |
Brooklyn |
Brooklyn Borough Hall Greenmarket
Court St & Montague St
|
8am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, April 30 |
Brooklyn |
Grand Army Plaza Greenmarket
Flatbush Ave & Eastern Pkwy (north of the arch) |
8am-2pm |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, April 30 |
Brooklyn |
McCarren Park Greenmarket
N 12th St and Driggs Ave |
8am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Wednesday, May 5 |
Bronx |
Mott Haven Food Scrap Drop-off
545 East 142nd Street |
9am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Wednesday, May 5 |
Bronx |
Morrisania Food Scrap Drop-off
McKinley Square at 169th St & Boston Rd |
10am-1pm |
Earth Matter |
| Thursday, May 5 |
Brooklyn |
Franklin Ave Food Scrap Drop-off
Eastern Parkway & Franklin Ave
|
8:30am-11:30am
|
Earth Matter |
| Thursday, May 5 |
Brooklyn |
Prospect Heights Food Scrap Drop-off
Park Place & Carlton Ave |
8am-11am |
Earth Matter |
| Thursday, May 5 |
Bronx |
Norwood Farmstand
E Gun Hill Rd & Dekalb Ave |
9am-2pm |
Earth Matter |
| Thursday, May 5 |
Bronx |
BronxWorks Food Scrap Drop-off
1130 Grand Concourse |
10am-1pm |
Earth Matter |
| Friday, May 6 |
Bronx |
New Roots Community Farm Food Scrap Drop-off
670 Grand Concourse |
8am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Friday, May 6 |
Bronx |
Fordham Plaza Food Scrap Drop-off
E Fordham Rd & 3rd Ave |
8am-11:30am |
Earth Matter |
| Friday, May 6 |
Bronx |
Montefiore Fresh Food Box
871 Prospect Ave |
11am-2pm |
Earth Matter |
| Friday, May 6 |
Bronx |
Parkchester Food Scrap Drop-off
Westchester Ave & White Plains Rd |
8am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Friday, May 6 |
Brooklyn |
Cypress Hills Food Scrap Drop-off
Fulton St & Richmond St |
10am-1pm |
Earth Matter |
| Friday, May 6 |
Brooklyn |
Crown Heights Farmstand
Eastern Parkway & Franklin Ave |
8:30am-11:30am |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, May 7 |
Brooklyn |
Kensington Food Scrap Drop-off
McDonald Ave & Albemarle Rd |
8:30am-11:30am |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, May 7 |
Brooklyn |
7th Ave Sunset Park Greenmarket
7th Ave & 44th St |
8am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, May 7 |
Brooklyn |
Bay Ridge Greenmarket
3rd Ave & 95th Street |
8am-12:30pm |
Earth Matter |
| Sunday, May 8 |
Brooklyn |
Bensonhurst Food Scrap Drop-off
18th Ave & 81st St |
9am-1pm |
Earth Matter |
| Sunday, May 8 |
Brooklyn |
Carroll Gardens Greenmarket
Smith St and 1st Pl |
8am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Sunday, May 8 |
Manhattan |
77th/79th Sts Greenmarket
77th St between Columbus Ave & Central Park West |
9am-3pm |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, May 14 |
Brooklyn |
Fort Greene Greenmarket
Washington Park & Myrtle Ave |
9am-2pm |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, May 14 |
Brooklyn |
Bed-Stuy Fresh Food Box
Decatur St and Lewis Ave |
11am-3pm |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, May 14 |
Manhattan |
Abingdon Sq. Greenmarket
W12th St & 8th Ave |
8am-2pm |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, May 14 |
Manhattan |
Tribeca Greenmarket
Greenwich St & Duane St |
8am-1pm |
Earth Matter |
| Saturday, May 14 |
Manhattan |
Inwood Greenmarket
Seaman Ave & Isham St (N corner) |
8am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Sunday, May 15 |
Brooklyn |
Cortelyou Greenmarket
Argyle Rd and Cortelyou Rd |
9am-1pm |
Earth Matter |
| Sunday, May 15 |
Manhattan |
Columbia Greenmarket
116th St & Broadway |
8am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
| Sunday, May 15 |
Manhattan |
Asphalt Green Food Scrap Drop-off
East 91st St & York Ave |
7:30am-12:30pm |
Earth Matter |
| Friday, June 24 |
Bronx |
Lincoln Hospital Greenmarket
149th St b/t Park and Morris Aves |
8am-12pm |
Earth Matter |
How to Use Compost
You don’t need to have a backyard or garden to have a use for compost. Indoor plants benefit from an annual application of compost, and we all have access to street trees that can use some love. We recommend mixing your compost into soil at a ratio of at least 3 parts soil to 1 part compost for best results.
- For outdoor plants: Rake, sprinkle, or mix the compost into the soil of garden or tree beds.
- For indoor plants: Gently mix an inch of compost into the top layer of potting soil, or blend with potting soil when repotting.
Compost is not shelf-stable, and will not store well. Please use your compost within a week or two of receiving it.
Our small Compost Giveback bags are also compostable. Please remove the tin tie and sticker before bringing the empty bag back to a GrowNYC Food Scrap Drop-off site for composting.
Looking for a larger quantity of compost?
The GrowNYC Compost Program has the opportunity to give out finished compost bags made at the Staten Island Compost Site by the Department of Sanitation. We have 150 bags of approximately 30 lbs. each that we can deliver to interested participants at our designated food scrap drop-off sites for pick-up. Please fill out our form to request finished compost and we'll get in touch with you. Note that due to limited supplies, we cannot guarantee that you will be able to receive finished compost. The Department of Sanitation is also listing options for receiving or picking up larger quantities of finished compost on their website here.
What is compost, anyway?
During Compost Giveback events, there’s often some confusion about what we’re giving away and why. Here are a few definitions to know:
-
Food Scraps (noun) – the uneaten foods or parts of food. Calling these items scraps, rather than waste, highlights their value and potential for beneficial use, including human and animal consumption of rescued edible foods, composting, and anaerobic digestion.
-
Composting (verb) - the process of aerobic, biological decomposition that transforms organic materials like food scraps and fallen leaves into compost.
-
Compost (noun) – a soil amendment that resembles dark, crumbly topsoil, has a pleasant earthy smell, and has no resemblance to the original organic materials from which it is made. Compost refers to the finished product of the composting process, and is not to be confused with food scraps, which are just one ingredient in the composting process.
-
Soil (noun) – the upper layer of earth in which plants grow. Healthy soil consists of 45% minerals, 25% water, 25% air, and 5% organic matter. Soil is not to be confused with compost, which is a soil amendment that adds organic matter and beneficial microbes to soil.
When you drop off your food scraps with GrowNYC, we bring them to composting facilities, where they’re mixed with carbon-rich materials like leaves and wood chips, and transformed into compost. The finished compost can be used to improve soil quality for houseplants, gardens, and street trees alike.
Additional Resources
The compost giveback is made possible by funding from the NYC Department of Sanitation.
