Roosevelt Island Farmers Market Returns To Motorgate Plaza Saturday January 8 After 2 Week Hiatus, Big Reuse Roosevelt Island Food Scrap Drop Off Site Returns With Haki Compost Volunteers Too - Bring Your Christmas Trees To Haki Tomorrow For Transport To Queens Mulchfest

The Roosevelt Island Saturday Farmers Market at Motorgate Plaza under the Helix 

returns tomorrow, January 8, after a two week hiatus for Christmas and New Year's Day.

The Roosevelt Island Saturday Farmers Market is open early morning to mid afternoon in good weather and bad 

offering a wide variety of healthy and delicious tasting fruits, vegetables and much more.   

Also, the Roosevelt Island Big Reuse Food Scrap drop off site with Haki Compost Collective volunteers 

returns to Saturdays at the Motorgate Plaza next to the Farmers Market tomorrow.

According to Haki Compost:

Our Big Reuse Food Scrap Drop-Off program has collected 60,000 pounds of scraps in 2021 that has been diverted from landfills and processed into compost to amend neighborhood soils, and over 215,000 pounds since the program started in November 2015. 

 In the last collection holiday weekend of 2021 alone, we collected 599 pounds from 99 residents serving approximately 50% of our participants. Woot woot! And, we're back on Saturdays from 9 AM - 2 PM! 

What's more, throughout January 2022, residents can drop their used pens and markers for proper disposal during Haki Compost hours in a collection partnership with TerraCycle and iDig2Learn (no pencils, please).

Also, To properly dispose of Christmas trees from Roosevelt Island, the only way to do that is to take the trees off island and to drop them at the Parks Department location with Mulchfest NYC Parks. One site that is very close is the Queensbridge Park on Vernon Blvd (just before arriving at the Qboro bridge) anytime during park hours through January 9th when they will be chipped for mulch. Astoria Park is also hosting two chipping days this coming weekend on both Saturday and Sunday January 8th and January 9th.  

In the past two years, volunteers from RIGC and Haki helped to take about 30-40 RI trees to Mulchfest, but we were unable to make any big effort this year in 2022. That being said, RIGC/Haki volunteers can transport RI trees to Vernon tomorrow only Saturday January 8th for anyone who wants to bring their tree clean of any trimmings to the Haki Food Scrap Drop Off between 9 and 2 tomorrow. One car will make trips off Island with any trees brought to Haki tomorrow.  

Any Roosevelt Islanders interested in requesting that RIOC make a shift to more sustainable chipping of trees or to a link with NYC Parks Mulchfest in 2023 can email rigardencluboutreach@gmail.com. Now is the time to begin to petition and plan for years ahead 2023 and beyond. We can join together and write a letter about this positive change for 2023.