Composting
Composting at the Garden
6/15 Green is a public composting drop-off site. Local residents can recycle their kitchen scraps and organic waste in the garden during open hours or whenever the gate is open. Public composting is a program designed to bring awareness to the surrounding neighborhoods about composting and its impact on our city.
Our composting program is supported by The New York City Compost Project hosted by Brooklyn Botanic Garden. We are also supported by the Park Slope Food Coop, delivering greens and browns to our bins.
How to Compost at the Garden
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There are 3 bins in the back of our garden. Place your greens into bin #1 (the bin on the left) and cover with browns (wood shavings, hay, manure, shredded newspaper) available in the steel bin next to the compost bins. If brown material is not available use unfinished compost from second bin.
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Mix together your compost with the compost in bin
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Make some air holes with tools available
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Top with a layer of browns
Notes:
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Please do not add water to the bin
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Please chop up your waste before adding to the pile [small pieces compost faster].
The following material is compostable:
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Chopped up fruit & vegetables
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Potato peels, fruit rinds and cores etc. [please no large hard, seeds like mango, avocado or coconut]
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Coffee grounds, paper filters, and tea bags without staples
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Cut flowers (before they seed)
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Garden weeds (except invasive weeds like mugwort, woody rose and the deadly yellow clinging vine a.k.a. strangle weed)
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Grass clippings
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Fresh leaves
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Seaweed
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Horse manure
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Bread & grains
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Food soiled paper towels, napkins and paper plates
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Cotton balls, Q-tips, Shredded newspaper (except no shiny paper, no color print supplements)
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Wood ash from untreated wood (no charcoal ash)
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Dried leaves
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Packing peanuts (the ones that dissolve in water not Styrofoam)
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Animal fur, human hair, nail clippings
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Dryer lint
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Hay and straw
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Eggshells
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Old potting soil
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Small branches cut into pieces 2″ or smaller
Do not compost the following material:
NO mugwort or wood
NO animal products (chicken, bones, or fish, dairy, eggs, fats, oils or grease)
NO plastic, plastic, bags, twist ties, rubber bands etc.
NO cat or dog waste
NO large fruit seeds like avocado, mango, coconut
NO thick wooden branches
NO thick stalks like sunflower, hollyhock (or prickly branches, like roses)
NO diseased plants
NO pesticide treated plants or grass
NO treated wood, sawdust or plywood, shavings.
Storage Ideas
Depending on your family size and eating habits, a shoe box size plastic container in your fridge keeps smell to a minimum. A bucket or large coffee can under the sink with newspaper, paper towels or finished compost in the bottom will cut down on smells by absorbing liquids. Composting a lemon a couple times a week will help keep the bucket smelling fresher. If you accumulate your compostables in the freezer, please bring it to the garden already thawed and dispose of the container.
The concept of composting is to return to the earth what we have harvested from her. If you think of it that way you’ll always know what to and what not to compost. Composting is the wonderful process that occurs naturally when the nitrogen in greens and the carbon in browns are mixed together and are transformed into rich, nourishing, soil-like substance.
Composting in the City
Looking for locations to compost closer to you? Here's a non-comprehensive list of locations across the boroughs that accept compost. For more options, check out GrowNYC: https://www.grownyc.org/compost
Brooklyn
1278 Myrtle Avenue, Bushwick
Wednesdays: 9AM-2PM
Sunday: 12-3PM (food scraps only)
Neighborhoods Eligible for pick-up: North & Central Brooklyn
Doesn't Accept: Fish, meat, dairy, eggs, pet waste or litter, and compostable foodware
380 Classon Avenue, Bedford
Monday-Friday 8AM-5PM
Neighborhoods Eligible for pick-up: All five boroughs
Doesn't Accept: Take-out food containers, wax paper, plastic wraps, fruit/vegetable sticker labels, coffee cups, straws, styrofoam, rubber bands, twist ties, bubble wrap, and bones.
219 McKibbin Street, Williamsburg
Mon-Fri 7AM-5:00 PM
Sat 7AM-1:00 PM
Doesn't Accept: Meat, fish, plastic, plant-based products, and dairy products.
Prospect Lefferts Garden and Flatbush (Contact for specific address)
Saturday-Sunday 8:30AM-10AM
Doesn't Accept: Fish, meat, dairy, compostable foodware, and paper towels.
225 Adelphi Street, Fort Greene
Fridays 12PM-9PM
Doesn't Accept: Animal-based products
58 E 18th Street, Prospect Park South
Saturdays 10:30AM-12:30PM
Sundays 2-4PM
Doesn't Accept: Meat, fish, fats, oils, dairy products, plastic, metals, glass, and deceased or pest-treated plants.
197 Adelphi Street, Fort Greene
Monday-Friday 3-9PM
Saturday-Sunday 12-9PM
Doesn't Accept: Meat, fish, greasy food scrapes, fats, oils, dairy products, coal, charcoal, coconuts, diseased or insect-infested houseplants, compostable plastics, and receipts.
Tyrome Tripoli's Gallery Petite
114 Wilson Avenue, Bushwick
Monday-Sunday 9AM-9PM
Doesn't Accept: Meat scrapes, dairy products, fish, oils, deceased, and insect-treated plants.
Wyckoff Farmhouse Museum
5816 Clarendon Road, Canarsie
Friday-Saturday 1-4PM
Doesn't Accept: Plant-based products, meat and bones
Cooper Park West, East Williamsburg
Monday 9-10:30AM
Thursday 5-6:30PM
Doesn't Accept: Fish, meat, citrus, compostable utensils, oils, and paper products.
354 Stockton Street, Bushwick
Saturdays-Sundays 12:30PM to dusk
Doesn't Accept: Fish, meat, dairy, fats, oils, and grease
15 River Street, Williamsburg
Mondays 10AM-12PM
Thursdays 6PM-8PM
Doesn't Accept: Citrus, coffee filters, compostable products, dairy products, fish, garlic, onions, and meat.
123 3rd Street, Gowanus
Sundays: 9AM-5PM
Doesn't Accept: Meat, dairy, oily foods, large sticks, bulk yard waste, and compostable bags and utensils.
North Brooklyn Compost Project
Sundays 10AM-2PM
Doesn't Accept: Meat, fish, whole eggs, bones, dairy products, compostable utensils, plastic, rubber bands, gloves, and paper towels.
Queens
Saturday-Sunday 9AM-9PM
Doesn't Accept: Plant-based products, meat and bones
Manhattan
415 E 11th Street, Lower East Side
Sat/Sun 10am-4pm
Monday 10am-1pm
Tuesday 3pm-5pm
Wednesday 1-3, 5-6pm
Thursday 10-12, 1-2, 5-7pm
Friday 5pm-7pm
Neighborhoods Eligible for pick-up: 100th Street south to Battery Park, East to West
Meat, bones, dairy, oils, plates, bowls, cups, napkins, paper towels, and tissues
Governors Island
Saturday-Sunday 12-4PM
Doesn't Accept: Meat, fish, plastic, oils, grease, and dairy products
W 138th Street at 12th Avenue, Harlem
Saturday-Sunday 9AM-5PM
Doesn't Accept: Meat, fish, dairy products, paper towels, oils, grease, and compostable utensils
7th Street, Lower East Side
Monday-Sunday 9AM-9PM
Doesn't Accept: Fish, bones, shells, dairy products, fats, greasy foods, pet feces or litter, plants, and compostable plastic
Seaman Avenue, Inwood
Tuesdays & Thursdays 8AM-10AM
Saturdays 9AM-12PM
Doesn't Accept: Fish, meat, and dairy
Bronx
Brook Avenue & E 141 Street, Mott Haven
Saturday-Sunday 12-4PM
Doesn't Accept: Fish, meat, dairy products, compostable plastics, and bones
GreenFeen Organix: The Compost Co-Op
No Drop-off Location, Pick-up Only
Hours: Must schedule a time
Neighborhoods Eligible for Pick-up: North Bronx