Sign Petition To Bring Back Roosevelt Island Grow NYC Food Scrap Drop Off Compost Collection Bin Program - Over 134 Thousand Pounds Of Food Scraps Diverted From Landfill By Roosevelt Island Waste Reduction Programs Since 2015

As previously reported, the Roosevelt Island Grow NYC Food Scrap Drop Off Compost Collection Bin program 

has been suspended since last March 28 due to NYC Coronavirus Pandemic budget cuts. According to Grow NYC:

The coronavirus outbreak has suspended many of the zero waste programs New Yorkers have come to rely on, including GrowNYC’s zero waste programs, DSNY’s curbside compost program, and the citywide network of food scrap drop-off sites...

But, NY 1 reported July 7 that some funds were restored for the program:

... Curbside pickups of compostable materials have been suspended for the entire budget year - idling those brown garbage cans meant for food scraps and yard waste. At the last minute, the City Council restored $2.9 million to the NYC Compost project — enabling New Yorkers to drop off compostables at sites across the city. However, all of those locations are currently closed because of the pandemic....

The Roosevelt Island Food Scrap Drop Off Compost Program began in November 2015. At that time, Roosevelt Island Girl Scout Troop Leader Aiesha Eleusizov explained to us how it works.



Supporters of the Roosevelt Island Food Scrap Drop Off Bin ask you to help bring the program back to Roosevelt Island by signing this petition.

Please take a moment to sign & share with Roosevelt islanders - please return the Food Scrap Drop Off to Roosevelt Island - we are floating in the east river, lost without you. #earthlove #compost @Rooseveltisland @RI_Daily @LibRoosevelt https://t.co/aBTirfdrke

— iDig2Learn (@iDig2Learn) July 25, 2020

Here's the full petition - Please sign by Tuesday, July 28:

Letter to GrowNYC to petition for the return of the Roosevelt Island food scrap drop-off site.

OUR COLLECTIVE LETTER:
Dear GrowNYC,

As a community that cares deeply about the health of our people and the planet, the residents of Roosevelt Island have monitored the status of city-funded composting projects closely over the past few months and many of us have contributed to the efforts of the #SaveOurCompost campaign. Though the $2.8 million preserved for the NYC Compost Project and its partners is far from the goal to which we all aspired, we’re excited to know that this small victory will allow composting sites to resume processing and for select GrowNYC food scrap drop-off sites to return. Motivated by our continued enthusiasm for and dedication to sustainability, we write to the GrowNYC staff to kindly request the return of the food scrap drop-off site on Roosevelt Island.

We realize that in your considerations of which FSDOs to reinstate, volume is an important factor. Though our FSDO may not have been the top performing collection site across the five boroughs, our community’s participation was always climbing ever higher, and the commitment to mitigating waste sent to landfills has been enthusiastically embraced, as demonstrated by the 134,000 pounds of food scraps diverted over the past four years (November 2015—March 2020) and attendance at food waste reduction events like the annual Pumpkin Smash. That commitment remains strong as we partner with the local university, Cornell Tech, to explore ways to move Roosevelt Island closer to zero waste and continue to engage islanders with the benefits of composting through homegrown solutions.

It is also important to note that due to the geographic nature of Roosevelt Island, we are, in certain ways, an isolated community, making it difficult for us to access services provided in other neighborhoods. We have one public school, one US Post Office, and our one bank just closed its doors, no longer servicing Roosevelt Island. This issue of access is especially relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic when traveling on public transit is particularly dangerous for vulnerable members of our community. Restoring our local FSDO would re-empower so many of our neighbors to take back control of one aspect of the supply chain we can directly influence--the end, where there is the opportunity for rejuvenation, the chance to close the loop on the cycle of nearly a third of NYC’s residential waste stream rather than draw a straight line to the landfill.

We are a humble community, nestled inconspicuously in the middle of the East River, but our sustainability goals are mighty, and we hope that you’ll help us to achieve them. We respectfully ask that you seriously entertain the possibility (and potential) of reinstating the food scrap drop-off site on Roosevelt Island.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Best,
The residents of Roosevelt Island

You can sign the Petition and add any comments here.