Save our Community Compost Processing Sites

OANA supports the effort to save the Big Reuse compost site under the Queensboro Bridge new Queensbridge Baby Park. The City wants to convert it to a parking lot.

See below to see how you can support the effort to keep the Compost Site alive.

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Information from Justin Green, Executive Director of Build it Green

There may be redundancies in the information below.

Renewal of our license should be a win win for Parks! Our community composting site:

• composts 300,000 lbs of Parks leaves and wood chips and 1 million lbs of residential food scraps instead of landfilling
• demonstrates Parks active pursuit of sustainability goals for not only Parks but the whole city during a worsening climate crisis
• provides free high quality compost to Parks, GreenThumb, and street tree care which improve soil in NYC that is highly degraded
• provides resources to volunteers and community groups that are helping Parks green NYC during a period of reduced budgets
• bring 1000 volunteers annually to the compost site
• hosts dozens of tours for schools and environmental groups
• is an essential component of NYC City Councils’ recently funded Compost Project effort to provide composting for city residents after elimination of curbside composting
• is supported by local elected officials – CM Van Bramer has reached out to Parks on our behalf, CM Reynoso (maybe next Brooklyn BP), CM Lander (maybe next Comptroller) – all are big supporters
• environmental justice – turns waste into a community resource in NYC instead of burden in another community hosting our landfill
• out of 30,000 acres of Parks land our site takes up 0.000016 for community composting

The Sign On Letter of Support was created by the #SaveOurCompost Community Organization.

Bloomberg – https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/food-waste-site-shutdowns-in-new-york-risk-higher-methane-levels

Queens Daily Eagle – City kicks key Queens compost site to the curb –

City Council is also holding a hearing to have Parks answer for this decision!! We really need the Mayor to take notice.

Here are some other actions!

1. Testify at City Council – Friday, December 18 at 11 am: NY City Council supports community composting and wants our site and LES Ecology Center’s license renewed. City Council has called a virtual oversight hearing on Community Composting with Committee on Parks and Recreation and the Committee on Sanitation to question Parks about their short sighted decision.
   • We encourage all of supporters of composting can register to testify at the hearing here. Registration to testify closes 24 hours before the hearing (12/17 at 10:59am).
   • Written testimony may be submitted without registration by emailing it to hearings@council.nyc.gov up to 72 hours after the close of the hearing.
   • The hearing can be viewed here.
2. Send copy of testimony to Mayor and Parks. Paste your testimony into response forms for Mayor Bill de Blasio and Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver to let them know why Parks should host composting sites instead of landfilling their waste. Call 311 and leave a message for the Mayor & Parks to save composting sites.
3. Join our Press Conference on Tuesday, December 15 at 3 pm: Join the Save Our Compost coalition and elected officials for a virtual press conference where we will make the case for protecting existing compost sites on Parks. The event will live-streamed on our Facebook page. Register for the event on Zoom here.
   • Speakers supporting the composting site include elected official – CM Antonio Reynoso, CM Jimmy Van Bramer, CM Carlina Rivera, CM Costa Constantinides, CM Brad Lander, CM Margaret Chin, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, ex DSNY Commissioner Kathryn Garcia, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance, NRDC.
4. Follow @SaveOurCompost for updates and information and check out this action page by composters on Roosevelt Island for more ways to help save our community composting sites!