Opinion: Why NYC Needs Community Composting to Make Curbside Collections Work
When people see the composting process up close when they hold the finished product in their hands they re far more likely to separate their food scraps at home A May rally outside City Hall against funding cuts to area composting programs Gerardo Romo NYC Council Media Unit As the City Council debates the budget there s real concern that locality composting could be eliminated again It happened in It could happen this year too That would be a huge mistake That s because while New York City has in the end made composting easy the question remains will people do it The city s new curbside composting campaign which was rolled out last fall but became mandatory for majority residents beginning April means New Yorkers can put food scraps and other food waste in a brown bin and set it out like they do their recycling But infrastructure alone won t make it a success Right now participation is low Only percent of compostable materials are being diverted That means tons of food scraps were trashed in just the last quarter of wasted guidance that could have enriched soil and cut emissions The concern isn t access It s behavior And behavior doesn t change through mandates alone New York has a chance to lead the way not just by building the infrastructure but by building the way of life That s where region composting comes in These local programs don t just process food scraps and create compost for city trees parks and gardens They close the gap between strategy and participation When people see the composting process up close when they hold the finished product in their hands they re far more likely to separate their food scraps at home This behavioral shift is critical a examination this year by the CUNY School of General Wellbeing unveiled that percent of participants in neighborhood composting programs shared increased awareness of food waste and percent stated they had reduced their household waste Public composting doesn t compete with curbside composting it fuels it And the surroundings requirements both types of composting now more than ever Food scraps in a landfill don t just disappear they rot release methane and add to the surroundings mess Curbside compost largely turns food waste into biofuel Region composting turns waste into rich healthy soil that holds water strengthens plants and certainly gives something back to the planet Combined these composting efforts can cut greenhouse gas emissions in half That s the difference between keeping carbon in the soil or pumping methane into the air If we re looking for an easy environment win this is it Unfortunately area composting has been treated as expendable despite its proven impact In the Adams administration eliminated all funding forcing small-scale composters to scrape by on private donations It took sustained advocacy rallies hearings inhabitants pressure for the City Council to restore million in the last fiscal year budget But even with this success the funding shift underscores a troubling reality district composting remains vulnerable Unlike curbside composting which has dedicated city tools community-based programs constantly have to fight for their existence Yet these programs do what protocol alone cannot they educate engage and create the cultural shift necessary to make composting a habit They also give residents an option While the curbside campaign generates biofuel group composting offers a truly circular system one that regenerates soil and strengthens local ecosystems If New York is serious about reducing waste and cutting emissions it must do more than save locality composting from the budget axe It must treat it as an essential part of our composting infrastructure not an afterthought Christine Datz-Romero is the co-founder and executive director of the Lower East Side Ecology Center The post Opinion Why NYC Requirements Group Composting to Make Curbside Collections Work appeared first on City Limits
