Community Compost is Back at McCarren Park

Funded through June 2025 raise your voice to extend it.

The bins are back. Bring your food scraps and other community compost friendly items
to McCarren Park Saturdays from 8 a.m.–2 p.m. *Photo credit: Lori Ann Doyon*

Community Compost, this is the compost you bring to a drop-off site, returned to McCarren Park as of March 1. When you visit GrowNYC’s farmers market on Saturdays and bring your food scraps the compost bins are located at Union Avenue and North 12^th Street and are available from 8 a.m.–2 p.m.

The community compost bins accept fruit, vegetable, garden/plant trimmings (if they aren’t infested), coffee, tea, seeds, grains, pasta, bread, egg shells, and food soiled paper if it’s shredded. This is because this compost is turned into the compost you use in gardens.

Don’t drop off: meat, chicken, fish, bones, dairy, diseased or infested plants, animal waste, and compostable plastic — as in containers, the bags are okay.

What to compost and what NOT to compost. Photo credit: Lori Ann Doyon

This is a relief to those who wish to compost but whose buildings refuse to participate in curbside composting. However, it is currently funded through this June and needs to be refunded by the city if it is to remain.

Also many who compost want to compost so their organic trash goes to live on in a garden somewhere. Whereas most curbside compost gets converted into fuel/energy.

On the steps of City Hall, before the NYC Council’s preliminary budget hearing for the committee on sanitation and solid waste management, a Save Our Compost rally was held to encourage more funding for community composting. Many organizations that are the driving force for community composting participated such as Big Reuse and the Lower Eastside Ecology Center.

“After the Mayor eliminated community composting drop off sites last year, I organized with colleagues and thousands of neighbors to restore funding. I’m so pleased that we’re finally able to restore the compost drop off site at the McCarren Park Greenmarket. Grab your food scraps and bring them to McCarren from 8 a.m.–2 p.m. every Saturday. Big Reuse processes compost locally and returns it to community gardens, parks, our street tree care events and more great local uses!” said NYC Council Member Lincoln Restler.