#SISustainability: Spoiled to soil, composting on Staten Island

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Getting rid of food waste through composting is on the rise, but Staten Island is behind the rest of the boroughs when it comes to curbside pick-up.Compost is decomposed organic material that is turned into a natural fertilizer. To make compost, you collect food scraps and other organic goods (i.e. leaves, grass trimming, etc.) and let it decay naturally. By mixing the proper ratio of organic matter, the nutrient rich natural fertilizer is made. Compared to the other boroughs, Staten Island is significantly behind with the access to curbside organics pick up. The Department of Sanitation (DSNY) provides curbside pick up in more than 50% of communities within each of the other four boroughs, but in Staten Island only 15% of communities have that access.The communities that currently can request bins from DSNY include: West New Brighton, Castleton Corners, Westerleigh, Graniteville, Elm Park, and Mariners Harbor.Outside of these sites, Staten Islanders have to turn to non-profits to drop off their food scraps. They recieve some funding from DSNY, but run independently.The three non-profits with public food scrap drop-off sites are the GrowNYC Greenmarkets in St. George and at the Staten Island Mall, Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden, and Olivet Presbyterian Church. John Karl from GrowNYC beside a sign reading “What is Compost? What can you do with it? Let’s talk.” (Staten Island Advance/Rebeka Humbrecht) The GrowNYC Greenmarkets are open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. year round. The St. George Greenmarket is located at St. Mark’s Place and Hyatt St. The New Springville location is at the Staten Island Mall in the parking lot behind Macy’s.GrowNYC provides drop-off bins and their Compost Coordinators can give demonstrations and advice for anyone looking to compost. Food scraps collected by them go directly to DSNY at the Fresh Kills Composting Facility, and finished compost is given out to Staten Islanders for free during their compost give-back events. Natalie Nowlen, the Outreach Coordinator for the composting project at Snug Harbor, checking completed compost. (Staten Island Advance/Rebeka Humbrecht) Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden is involved in all things composting as Staten Island’s main host of the NYC Compost Project. They have a compost drop-off site that is open every day between dawn and dusk year round. The compost that they generate is using in the gardens that they have on their own campus.Snug Harbor also hosts events to help the community learn about composting and how they can do it at home. These range from small informational sessions to getting your hands dirty as you work with the compost yourself. Elizabeth Schade, a Master Composter, and Olivia Golden, an Outreach Coordinator at Snug Harbor, during a “Turn-and-Learn” composting class at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden. (Staten Island Advance/Rebeka Humbrecht) They also host a Master Composter certificate program, which is designed to help community members become experts on composting. With their knowledge, they can then volunteer to start more community garden and composting sites on the Island.They recently renovated the composting site to be A.D.A. accessible so more members of the community can participate in their events.Outside of their own campus, Snug Harbor facilitates other members of the NYC Compost Project by providing resources and other aid to their programs. Those sites include: Olivet Presbyterian Church (which has a public drop-off bin) Wagner College College of Staten Island Christ Church of New Brighton Hill Street Community Garden High Rock Park Environmental Education Center Castleton Moravian Church Community Garden Joe Holzka Community Garden Everything Goes Café P.S. 57 Community Garden P.S. 9 Community Garden While GrowNYC and Snug Harbor are putting a lot of effort into maintaining community sites, it is still significantly more difficult for Staten Islanders compared to other boroughs. Two of the drop-off sites are located on the North Shore and the third is Mid-Island, leaving the South Shore left out entirely. While St. George and the Mall are heavy commuter areas, it still stands that you do have to commute there rather than just leave the scraps on your curb. Plus, both of those sites are only open one day a week during very specific hours.A DSNY spokesperson said that they are hoping to continue to work with the City Council to bring the curbside pick-up program to all of Staten Island. Until then, they still “encourage all Staten Islanders to recycle their food scraps and yard waste.” Their suggestions include the before-mentioned drop-off sites and the leave and Christmas tree collection programs.For more articles about #SISustainability, follow the links below:


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