Queens compost pilot program shows signs of success in first 2 weeks
NEW YORK -- They've been cleaning up the scraps in Queens.
The borough has helped divert more than 1 million pounds of food and yard waste in the last two weeks as part of a composting pilot program.
Piles of compost have helped turn an empty lot into a community garden. On 45th Street in Sunnyside, Queens, old food waste now has a new purpose.
"There needs to be an effort to keep things off of the landfill," said a woman named Vanessa with 45th Street Composters. "It's a step towards making a better environment for ourselves."
The garden started taking scraps locally in 2020 when the sanitation department suspended its composting program due to the pandemic.
"It was great to see that there was interest in the community. We thought keeping it local and minimizing the carbon footprint was really important for us," Vanessa said.
The success in Sunnyside is reflective of the demand throughout Queens, which is why the city earlier in October rolled out a new pilot program guaranteeing curbside compost pickup, weekly.
READ MORE: NYC launches first ever all borough composting program in Queens
The small little brown bins have made a difference. They're part of the nation's largest curbside compost program, and so far, in two weeks, the city has collected over a million pounds of food scraps and yard waste.
"It's a natural way of recycling. That's the way I look at it," Sunnyside resident Richie Dimarc said.
Dimarc is one of thousands who've taken part in the program. Sanitation says more than 35,000 residents requested a free brown compost bin, with another 6,000 requesting stickers for their own bins.
"For me, it's not a problem. I know some people, it's an inconvenience ... People, they're working 12 hours a day and the last thing they wanna know when they get home, they sit down, have something to eat and they crash," Dimarc said.
He's hoping others will join him.
Citywide, there have been other compost programs in the past, but what was different about this one is that for the first time, there was no opt-in required. Curbside pickup is available for everyone.