The arrival of the smart composting bins in the East Village

Photos: Salim, Stacie Joy and Garth Johnston 

Over the past week, the Sanitation Department has been placing the orange, solar-powered compost drop-off bins (aka Smart Bins) on sidewalks around the East Village and Lower East Side. 

This is part of the city's ongoing effort to expand organic waste collection. Residents can access the curbside bins 24/7 through one of two smartphone apps. (The apps include a map with all the bin locations.) 

So why the hassle of a QR code? Curbed explains: 

This extra step is an effort to prevent contamination — or when non-compostable materials wind up with organics in the containers. (The issue of mixed materials became such a problem for the street recycling program that DSNY removed many of those bins entirely.) When it comes to the Smart Bin, the agency believes that the app offers just the right amount of friction. 

"We want the bins to be simple enough so that people passing it on the street look at it and immediately know what it is," says sanitation commissioner Jessica Tisch. The city also, crucially, wants this piece of its composting program to succeed, and that means keeping busted umbrellas and the errant tall boy out of the bins. 

The bins are meant to complement the existing drop-off composting sites, such as at the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket, the Down to Earth Garden on 12th Street, and La Plaza Cultural on Avenue C and Ninth Street. (There's a citywide map here.) 

Smart Bins have been spotted on Avenue B at 12th Street, First Avenue at Fourth Street, and Second Street at Second Avenue. (There are more! But you get the idea.)

The bins will likely look familiar — they are made by the same company that designed those Big Belly Solar trash cans. 

The Smart Bins first debuted in 2021 in Lower Manhattan and Astoria. This City Limits piece has more background.

Composting will reportedly be mandatory by October 2024, thanks to the recent passage of the Zero Waste Act. 

Thank you to everyone who sent in photos of the bins!

The Compost Yard in East River Park is on the move

In recent days workers have started to remove the contents from the Compost Yard in East River Park to make way for the East Side Coastal Resiliency project. (EVG photo from yesterday.)

The Lower East Side Ecology Center had been facing an uncertain future in trying to secure a suitable alternative for its 30-year-old composting program. In June, the city announced that the Compost Yard could return to its current location after the demolition/rebuild of East River Park over the next 3-5 years. 

Here's an update via the LES Ecology Center website on what is happening...

Our priority is to continue operating the existing drop-off sites during this transitional period. With the loss of the Compost Yard, we have begun hauling food scraps from our drop-off sites to the Staten Island Compost Site. This shift in our operations also means we’re using a new green bin at our drop-off sites. 

We are working with the City to build out a temporary compost site so that we can compost the food scraps we are collecting again in spring of 2022. 

Our compost yard volunteer workdays, compost donation appointments, and compost site tours are suspended until further notice. Our 24/7 Compost Yard drop-off will be moving. More details soon! 

You might be curious what is happening with all the compost currently at the Compost Yard. The freshest, active compost piles are being moved to the Staten Island Compost Site where they will finish their composting process. The finished compost will also be moved, we hope to donate as much of this material to neighborhood Parks as possible.

Meanwhile, the LES Ecology Center will be working from Seward Park over the next few years. 

Workers are expected to start razing the 57.5-acre East River Park in the weeks ahead, cutting down the 1,000 mature trees and eventually rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill.

East River Park Action and other advocates say there are better ways to preserve the park and provide flood protection, such as the one mapped out in the years after Sandy. In late 2018, the city surprised community stakeholders by announcing a complete overhaul of a plan discussed over four years of local meetings.

During a weeklong series of protests outside City Hall last week, the advocates (finally) got the attention of Council Speaker Corey Johnson to ask for him to hold an oversight hearing on the East Side Coastal Resiliency project. PIX11 and The Village Sun covered the advocates' impromptu meeting with Johnson.

You can also watch a video of the exchange right here... it's not clear what, if anything, might transpire from the conversation... 

 

Save our compost

An EVG reader shared this photo from the Tompkins Square Greenmarket today.

As you may have read in recent months, the Parks Department wants to evict three composting sites in the coming months — Big Reuse in Long Island City, the Lower East Side Ecology Center and Red Hook Farms. (For background you can read these articles at Politico ... the Queens Daily Eagle ... MSN ... City Limits... and, most recently, Gothamist.)

And the Lower East Side Ecology Center's compost stand at the Greenmarket is trying to rally support for the sites... you can text COMPOST to 21333 for talking points ... and you can find more info via @Saveourcompostnyc. 

Compost collection returns to the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket

The Lower East Side Ecology Center has returned — as of last Sunday — to accept kitchen scraps for composting at the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket...





EVG reader Bobby G. also notes that they are selling potting soil ...



Find more info at the LES Ecology Center website.

Thanks to Steven for the top three photos!

Compost pumpkin patch

Post-Halloween scene at the compost bins today at the Tompkins Square Park Greenmarket...

Here's your new compost drop-off site

From the EVG inbox yesterday…

The NYC Compost Project hosted by the Lower East Side Ecology Center is starting a commuter compost drop- off site at the west side of 1st Avenue between E. Houston and 1st St. It will be open Monday thru Friday 8 A.M. till 11 A.M.

Commuters are encouraged to bring their acceptable food waste to this drop-off site. Acceptable food waste includes:

• Fruits and vegetable scraps
• Coffee grounds, filters & paper tea bags
• Breads and grains
• Egg and nutshells
• Stale beans, flours and spices
• Cut or dried flowers
• Houseplants and potting soil

The collected food waste will be brought to the host site’s facilities at the East River Park for composting. The finished compost will be distributed to local community gardens, street tree stewardship and other community development purposes. This is a great opportunity for community members to easily reduce their bulk waste and help support the city's efforts to do the same.