The NYC Compost Project hosted by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden is at Added Value’s Red Hook Community Farm in Brooklyn. The Project manages the largest known community composting program in the United States that runs entirely on renewable resources - either human power or solar power - with over 1,900 volunteers each year. At peak performance, the program processes over 225 tons/year of organic material. That material becomes a rich amendment to the soil for the farm, rather than winding up in faraway landfills, transported there by greenhouse gas-emitting trucks and then releasing landfill gases that further hurt the environment.
Our program has the only compost windrows in New York City created and maintained entirely by hand or by the sun (no gas-powered machines) all the way through the winter. The organic material for the program derives from the Farm itself (weeds, spoiled produce, spent crop material), and from contributions made by a diversely rich spectrum of partners and community members.
We are unable to accept compostable material other than from household kitchens or by advance arrangement with our partners — if we do not know what it is, it gets tossed and everyone’s time is wasted.
WE WELCOME HOUSEHOLD KITCHEN FOOD SCRAPS FROM RED HOOK! For members of the Red Hook community wishing to drop-off their household kitchen veggie and fruit scraps and coffee grounds (no meats, fish, dairy, or vegetable oils), we welcome you in particular on Saturdays from April to November, 10 am to 1 pm, or at any time posted on our home page calendar marked “community composting.” Go to our “compost row” on the southwest edge of the farm and you will find easy self-help instructions for composting your material in less that 3 minutes.
PLEASE do not leave bags/buckets outside the gates during other hours, because it attracts rodents and we have to put it into the trash.
WINTER HOURS
Please check the calendar on our home page for “community composting” times, when our volunteer composters will be at the Farm from December through March and can process your household kitchen waste. Again, PLEASE do not leave bags/buckets outside the gates, because it attracts rodents and we have to put it into the trash.
WE WELCOME VOLUNTEERS!
Join our other volunteers for the work sessions marked as “community composting” on our home page calendar. But we ask that you come at the beginning of the session so you can participate in the orientation to tasks, and stay for the full session so we know how to plan for the completion of tasks. For composting work, we lift material with shovels/pitchforks, and you should wear clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, especially the shoes. It’s not work suited to children. Also, bring a hot/cold beverage suited to the temperature.
LEARN MORE!
If you’d like to learn more about the largest community composting program in New York City that runs entirely on renewable resources, please stop by during the hours posted for “community composting” on our home page. The best way to learn is to work beside us, but if you can’t do that please understand that we need to keep working while we talk.
For videos showing our compost operation (how to control rats, how to build a windrow, etc.), consult these public education videos by our volunteers about composting at the Red Hook Community Farm.
And for more resources, start your search at
this site dedicated to community composting.