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New York City has many, _many_ composting options: the city offers organic waste pickup (I don't know the details, but you'll see the brown and orange container

New York City has many, _many_ composting options: the city offers organic waste pickup (I don't know the details, but you'll see the brown and orange containers on trash pickup day), some food co-ops and green markets accept compost and, as you've mentioned, some community gardens also accept it. Most/all? Whole Foods also have a dedicated compost receptacle -- I have no idea what their policy on people depositing compost from outside the store is. Here's a link to GrowNYC compost drop-off locations: https://www.grownyc.org/compost/locations https://www.grownyc.org/compost/locations

bobthepanda 7y ago
The city program is limited. Efforts to expand it have stalled due to issues with compost storage in apartments and rats. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/07/ick-rats-roaches-rank-smells-dampen-nyc-composting-program https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/07/ick-rats-roa...
NikolaeVarius 7y ago
Also I've found that every outdoor market that sells food will have at least one compost bin
crazygringo 7y ago
Thanks, that's all very interesting. I can see how, if you're super-dedicated, you could save your organic trash and make a trip to bring it somewhere once a week or something. However, I'll stand by my point that it's anything but trivial. The city may offer organic waste pickup in theory, but not to my apartment building or any I've ever lived in. I've never even heard of it residentially. So spending, say, 20 minutes a week saving it and hygienically transporting the incredibly smelly contents on your subway commute, all for a small bag of apple cores, orange rinds, wilted greens and meat trimmings and such... seems like kind of an insane level of effort for a tiny return, no? I only see composting happening realistically at scale if a law is passed requiring every apartment building to provide a compost receptacle. And I'm honestly not sure how that could be made to work hygienically. Until then...
- organsnyder 7y ago
  We have two compost haulers available to us in my midsize Midwestern city. The provider we use gives us a cart that's the same size as our trash and recycling carts, and accepts a wide variety of compostable waste (not just food scraps). We fill up the compost cart much quicker than the trash cart.
- ethagnawl 7y ago
  I guess it all depends on your perspective and which option you pursue. I've done exactly what you've described and not found it to be a waste of time at all -- it can be a good way to get involved in your community. For instance, in my old neighborhood I found it very satisfying to take my waste to the community garden and participate in rotating it through the various stages of decomposition and then distributing the end result around the garden. When I was living in Manhattan, I would take compost to the Fourth Street Co-op and it was a good excuse to get exercise, buy inexpensive organic food and interact with people. (You don't need to be a member to shop there and freelance life can get lonely.)

bobthepanda 7y ago

The city program is limited. Efforts to expand it have stalled due to issues with compost storage in apartments and rats. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/07/ick-rats-roaches-rank-smells-dampen-nyc-composting-program https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/07/ick-rats-roa...

NikolaeVarius 7y ago

Also I've found that every outdoor market that sells food will have at least one compost bin

crazygringo 7y ago

Thanks, that's all very interesting. I can see how, if you're super-dedicated, you could save your organic trash and make a trip to bring it somewhere once a week or something. However, I'll stand by my point that it's anything but trivial. The city may offer organic waste pickup in theory, but not to my apartment building or any I've ever lived in. I've never even heard of it residentially. So spending, say, 20 minutes a week saving it and hygienically transporting the incredibly smelly contents on your subway commute, all for a small bag of apple cores, orange rinds, wilted greens and meat trimmings and such... seems like kind of an insane level of effort for a tiny return, no? I only see composting happening realistically at scale if a law is passed requiring every apartment building to provide a compost receptacle. And I'm honestly not sure how that could be made to work hygienically. Until then...

organsnyder 7y ago
We have two compost haulers available to us in my midsize Midwestern city. The provider we use gives us a cart that's the same size as our trash and recycling carts, and accepts a wide variety of compostable waste (not just food scraps). We fill up the compost cart much quicker than the trash cart.
ethagnawl 7y ago
I guess it all depends on your perspective and which option you pursue. I've done exactly what you've described and not found it to be a waste of time at all -- it can be a good way to get involved in your community. For instance, in my old neighborhood I found it very satisfying to take my waste to the community garden and participate in rotating it through the various stages of decomposition and then distributing the end result around the garden. When I was living in Manhattan, I would take compost to the Fourth Street Co-op and it was a good excuse to get exercise, buy inexpensive organic food and interact with people. (You don't need to be a member to shop there and freelance life can get lonely.)