Today Is World Soil Day, Haki Compost Collective Asks You To Take Local Action To Keep Roosevelt Island And Other NYC Food Scrap Drop Off Sites Operating And Save It From NYC Budget Cuts Elimination
Haki Compost Collective volunteer Julia Ferguson reports:
Due to proposed NYC budget cuts, the last Haki Compost Collective Roosevelt Island Food Scrap Drop Off collection
will be Saturday December 16, 2023.
We received the letter below from the Big Reuse Manager of Community Partnerships. The situation is serious and this is the week when we need community participation1. Sign the petition at Grow NYC.png)
2. Submit testimony online, on zoom, or in person for Dec. 11th Finance Hearing
3. Attend Rally and Press Conference on Wednesday Dec 6th 12-1pm City Hall Park4. Call or write Council Members (ie Julie Menin for our district.)
- ask our CM's to urge DSNY Commissioner Tisch to reinstate Community Composting
- ask CM's to discuss and vote to restore these programs in the budget line because these programs are part of the health and safety infrastructure in our city "Please do all that you can to change the city budget plan that eliminates Community Composting (Green Bin) programs. The community compost programs like the NYC Compost Project (Big Reuse, Lower East Side Ecology, Earth Matter, Snug Harbor) and GrowNYC play a vital role in our city. "
Reasons: These 115 essential green jobs mean that NYC
- diverts over 8 million pounds of organic waste from landfills;
- gives finished compost to over 335 community groups and thousands of individuals
- creates storm resilient soils across the city that mitigate flooding
- provides compost education to over 600,000 New Yorkers
- educates widely about prevention of rats in NYC
- This essential service supports New York's climate goals - a keystone service in this regard.
Ms Ferguson shares shares the letter from Big Reuse:
Dear Community Compost Partners,
Due to the City’s financial crisis and elimination of funds for community compost programs, we regret to inform you that we can no longer offer food scrap hauling service. Saturday, December 16th, will be the last food scrap pick up date. On this date, we will collect all the green Toters and any extra bins you may have received.
Please have toters with food scrap or emptied out ready for collection, if you are not receiving weekly hauling we will still be coming by for any remaining toters that may be used for compost or browns distribution. We also will be hanging signage at your site in the next week or two to help spread awareness of this closure to all your neighbors and participants. Attached is the signage that we will have laminated and hanging (if applicable).
We want to thank you for being a part of our community composting family and providing a valuable service for your community. On a personal note, it has been incredibly joyous and fulfilling to partner with so many incredible community groups and gardens across our city to support sustainable practices and direct climate action.
To help keep the community strong, we recommend joining the NYC Community Composting Google Group. If you’re interested in learning about updates to our community composting program, please check our website and the petition page.
From our team at Big Reuse, we thank you for this collaboration and hope our paths cross again
... The Haki Compost Collective thanks you for dropping off your food scraps on Saturdays. Since November 2015, we have collectively diverted over 341,017 pounds of food scraps from landfill, or 170 tons, equivalent to 85 SUV's in weight!
Several dump truck loads of nutrient-rich compost have come back to the Island trees, flowers and gardens and been given back to neighbors for their house plants....
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