Community Compost Drop-Off: One Half Hour

I spent a half hour at the Lower East Side Ecology Center’s “presence” at the Union Square Greenmarket on an unbearably hot day to ask some committed people about why they drop off their compost. One woman not interviewed dumped a plastic clamshell of string beans in while another woman who was “late for her appointment” cheerfully dropped off her week’s vegetable refuse. Here’s a quick and unscientific survey:

David, 34, East Village

Has been depositing his organic waste at the drop off for several years in order to reduce landfill waste.

Tammy, 34, Murray Hill

Her second time depositing and thrilled to know about this resource.

Jeff, 38, Flatiron (with a sleeping toddler in tow)

Has been bringing their organic waste for four months. “We’re pretty environmentally conscious. Since doing this, we found our waste has gone down 50%.”

David, 33, Upper West Side

Has been bringing his waste here for nearly two years so he “can sleep at night.”

Carl, 55, Stuyvesant Square

Has been coming for a month. “We used to have a house where we could bury our waste… It seemed a shame to let the organic refuse go to waste.”

Rachel, 27, Bedford-Stuyvesant

She’s been coming nearly two years because “all her worms died. It’s good that I can do this without a worm bin."