By Jesi Taylor Cruz

World Ocean Day is June 8th! What began as a proposal at the 1992 Earth Summit has evolved into a globally observed, youth-led movement that culminates in over 2,000 events in over 140 countries every June. “On World Ocean Day, people everywhere can celebrate and take action for our shared ocean, which connects us all,” the official website states. Plus, with the help of countless free resources and toolkits, the World Ocean Foundation and Youth Advisory council make it easy for people to join in the global celebration, learn more about ocean conservation, and engage their neighbors in stewardship. But what does all of this have to do with composting? In a word: everything. 

It is important, and increasingly crucial, to honor the interconnectedness of Earth’s natural cycles and ecosystems, especially given the impact that climate change has on our environment, wildlife, and human society. From rising rates of microplastics in rain and arctic ice to the ways in which land pollution affects our planet’s water—and, in turn, the safety and health of all living beings on Earth—the relationship between soils and the ocean is complex and we owe it to ourselves and the planet to ensure that the relationship is healthy and harmless. Put simply, in order to heal our planet we must view our world as a dynamic ecosystem made up of interdependent and inextricably linked systems. 

A helpful way to illustrate these connections is to think about the relationship between New Yorkers and, what Riverkeeper refers to as, the sixth borough: the waters that surround us. New York City’s bridges and underwater tunnels remind us that we are navigating and living on islands even if the skyscrapers often block the waters from our view. Our care for and attention to the sixth borough mustn’t wait for or center times of emergency and disaster. While it is important to prepare for floods and sea level rise, emergencies that will worsen in levels of extremity as climate change continues, it is also important to acknowledge that our neighboring waters, and the animals and plants that call them home, are flowing every single day.  

The Hudson River, for instance, is a tidal estuary “where salt water from the ocean combines with freshwater from northern tributaries,” Riverkeeper explains. “Because the Hudson River is a tidal estuary, meaning it ebbs and flows with the ocean tide, it supports a biologically rich environment, making it an important ecosystem for various species of aquatic life. For many key species, it provides critical habitats and essential spawning and breeding grounds.” Further, according to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the Hudson River is one of the healthiest estuaries on the Atlantic Coast and “[serves] as valuable habitat for marine life while providing essential human services to coastal communities and the regional economy.” There are, of course, other local estuaries and waterways around and near New York City that we must protect. 

In addition to protecting local river ecologies, addressing harms to ecosystems caused by decades of toxins entering waterways, and preventing sewage pollution, we must also protect soils and reduce waste inequities on the Land. By improving soil health and eliminating the conditions of possibility for pollution on our streets—that is transported into waterways by stormwater—and in our greenspaces we can reduce the amount of toxins that make it to the water. One way to help improve soil health is to expand access to organic nutrient cycling in the city, a project that would also reduce the amount of harmful emissions from landfills here and states that import our waste. Of course, I’m referring to equitably increasing access to composting. 

Composting is the act of transforming organic matter from things like food scraps and yard materials into a nutrient-rich soil amendment via a human-controlled, microbe-operated decomposition process. There are small-scale composting operations, some of which are so small they only involve processing food scraps in people’s homes, and those responsible for processing the waste of entire neighborhoods or cities. Whatever its size and scale, every composting site diverts waste from landfills and regenerates vital resources that can be used to improve soil health whether the soil is in a backyard garden or city park. 

Consequently, the improvement of soil health results in countless benefits that directly impact the health and safety of city residents while also managing stormwater runoff. Not to mention the long-term, large-scale benefits of carbon sequestration. Put simply, soil that lacks nutrients and microbial diversity is more prone to erosion, absorbing toxic chemicals, and losing the ability to grow food. The actions of some humans, from harmful land development practices to general lack of care of the Land, result in unhealthy and lifeless soil that, in turn, leads to decreased capacity for farming and food production as well as issues related to improper stormwater management, water conservation, and crop quality. In other words, when soil is healthy and home to extensive microbial diversity cities become more sustainable and the relationship between soils and waterways can start to truly heal. This is crucial in cities that are islands and have a complex relationship with multiple bodies of water.  

While the focus of this piece was New York City, this is a global issue that impacts billions of lives. On World Ocean Day, take the time to learn more about Earth’s natural cycles, the relationship between soils and oceans, and the ways in which composting can play a vital role in plans for protecting and healing our planet. We are connected by oceans and connected to soils. We don’t have time to waste on our journey toward climate justice. 

Photo from Alex Haney on unsplash.com

by Jesi Taylor Cruz

Soils are fertile ecosystems that contain living microorganisms, eroded ancient rock materials, and decayed organic matter. When soils on our planet are healthy, they help sustain all life on Earth from the tiniest organisms only visible through microscopes to humans and other animals who call countless different habitats home. Healthy soils help plants thrive, mitigate stormwater runoff, sequester carbon, improve farmer’s crop yields, cycle nutrients, and more. When soils are polluted and otherwise destroyed, these once dynamic ecosystems lose many of their beneficial properties and while we often think our impact on soil health is limited to actions we take in our daily lives, that’s not the case. Even in death we have the ability to either nourish or harm living soils. 

In Of Dirt and Decomposition: Proposing a Place for the Urban Dead, Katrina Spade, Founder and CEO of Recompose, examines the alarming data related to the funeral-industrial-complex: “The annual tally of buried materials in U.S. cemeteries is more than 30 million board-feet of hardwood and 90,000 tons of steel in coffins, 17,000 tons of steel and copper in vaults, 1.6 million tons of reinforced concrete in vaults, and more than 750,000 gallons of formaldehyde-laden embalming fluid.” Spade goes on to explain that the combination of air-tight caskets and about three gallons of formaldehyde result in “a soup of putrefied toxic liquid” that “[pollutes] the very soil to which [we] owe [our] lives.” Spade’s company, Recompose, is working to address these and other issues related to death care practices that harm the planet and perpetuate narratives about death that prevent people from understanding the full nature of life on Earth. Death care practices that could benefit from composting. 

At Recompose death care specialists participate in a process known as natural organic reduction, otherwise known as human composting. Phases one through five are detailed on their website as follows: 

PHASE 1

The Cycle Begins

“Natural organic reduction (NOR), also

known as human composting, is powered

by beneficial microbes that occur naturally

on our bodies and in the environment.

PHASE 2

The Laying In

“Our staff lay the body in a cradle surrounded

by wood chips, alfalfa, and straw. The

cradle is placed into a Recompose vessel

and covered with more plant material.”

PHASE 3

The Vessel

“The body and plant material remain in the

vessel for 30 days. Microbes break everything

down on the molecular level, resulting in

the formation of a nutrient‑dense soil.”

PHASE 4

The Soil

“Each body creates one cubic yard of

soil amendment, which is removed from

the vessel and allowed to cure. Once

completed, it can be used to enrich

conservation land, forests, or gardens.”

PHASE 5

Life After Death

“The soil created returns the nutrients

from our bodies to the natural

world. It restores forests, sequesters carbon, and nourishes new life.”

People who choose to have their body undergo this process have the option to donate their soil to Bells Mountain, a 700-acre nonprofit land trust in Washington. “The land’s caretakers use the soil donated by Recompose to support the continued revitalization of wetlands, riparian habitats, local plants, and vulnerable wildlife species,” and the process itself results in the removal of about .84 to 1.4 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere. Compared to the 28 gallons of gas needed for a single cremation, and the negative environmental impact of traditional burials, NOR is the alternative death care practice gift that keeps on giving. 

NOR is currently only legal in two states but legislators in New York are working to make human composting an option. The proposed bill, A00382/S05535, “provides for the creation, operation, and duties of natural organic reduction facilities as cemetery corporations for the contained, accelerated conversion of human remains to soil.” Despite pushback from the New York State Catholic Conference, Assemblywoman Amy Paulin told the Niagara Gazette that NOR is “cleaner and greener” than traditional burial practices and that it’s “in line with many religious practices.” Catholic leaders urge that it is “essential the body of a deceased person be treated with reverence and respect.” Not only does NOR prevent poisons from polluting the bodies of deceased persons, it also allows the organic matter of which bodies are composed to truly return to the Earth and nourish new life. When it comes to “reverence and respect for human remains,” a key consideration for Catholic critics of the proposed bill, a death care practice that honors natural cycles, encourages healing of the planet, and allows bodies to become one with the Earth without spreading toxins could be an environmentally and spiritually friendly option. 

But the point of NOR isn’t just to add another “green” action to one’s to-do list. Too often, the burden of repairing structural and systemic issues is aimed at individuals, many of whom are chronically disenfranchised. Even the death care industry has a history of discrimination and disenfranchisement that calls the idea of death being the great equalizer into the question. In Greening Death, Suzanne Kelly explains that “before the 1930s, Chinese Americans were barred from becoming funeral directors, leaving their experiences of death, as well as their death customs, in the hands of white actors.” She goes on to add that “until 1968 it was legal for cemeteries to refuse to bury bodies on the basis of race.” 

Now, the $15 billion death care industry has the opportunity to center equity, public health, and planetary healing. From educating people about the complex history of the industry to increasing access to ecology-focused burial options, the harmful elements of the funeral-industrial complex can be abolished. One composted human body at a time. Additionally, access to other alternatives to traditional burial can be increased with the help of information campaigns and advocacy for policy and legislation in death care management that offer people more options.

It’s time for society to stop treating cemeteries like landfills. Humans are part of natural cycles of life and death that can help us heal the planet instead of continuing to cause harm. With NOR humans can actually become worm food when they die, as all organic matter ultimately does, instead of source material for groundwater pollution. NOR gives people the option to help heal living soils instead of destroy them. Since we don’t just live on Earth but with Earth, the option to give back in this way allows us to really leave no trace. Only healthy soil. 

Originally posted on swrm’s website and on YouTube! Check out CGC Director, Meredith Danberg-Ficarelli in conversation with Lexi at swrm. They’re talking Compost and the City and you do not want to miss out.

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Originally hosted on #SaveOurCompost’s Instagram page: Check out Shasti Balasundara, founder of WeRadiate in conversation with Common Ground Compost’s very own, William Klimpert! Listen as they chat about the vital role data plays when it comes to composting and organics recycling.

“Eliminating food waste” was the theme of the inaugural Zero Waste Food Conference, hosted by The New School and the Institute of Culinary Education. The purpose of the two-day event, held on April 28th & 29th 2017, was to “discover better methods for the way we produce, distribute, consume and dispose of food in the environments where we cook and where we eat.” Panel discussions covered topics such as sustainable kitchen design, uncovering fresh connections in the food chain, and repurposing kitchen “scraps” into delicious, sustainable meals. Cooking demonstrations addressed food innovations such as beer made from surplus bread, butchery that wastes not, and the art of preservation through fermentation lead by pickling experts. The schedule was jam-packed with illuminating discussions and wow-factor cooking demos, we can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!

As a Zero Waste event, it was important that the conference produce as little landfill waste as possible. Common Ground Compost was thrilled to provide waste management services throughout both days to help achieve that goal. In preparation for the event, our staff assessed the various event spaces and designated optimal waste station placement. We communicated with the building staff to ensure they understood the plan for the conference, which included stationing volunteers at each waste station, to be sure that waste separation tips could easily be communicated to event attendees. Supervision at waste stations can be one of the most effective tools to reduce contamination in the recycling streams, and as was the case at the Zero Waste Food conference, the volunteers provided the added bonus of educating participants in responsible waste management in NYC. CGC provided waste stations and color-coded signage where needed, and had representatives present to prevent contamination and track the various waste streams. At the end of the day at each venue, we weighed every bag of waste and categorized it as either compost, recycling, mixed paper, or trash. Take a look at the waste characterization from the event, especially the high proportion of compostable waste!

We had such a blast contributing our services to this conference. We had great discussions with many curious participants about responsible recycling practices and even learned a thing or two about sustainable cooking!

If you are hosting an event of any kind and need waste management help, please reach out. We can’t wait to hear from you!

You may have read the title of this post and thought: “Everyone knows how to recycle, do I really need to put up signs?” Yes you do! It’s very, very important, and it’s the law!. Most people know, or think they know, the basics of recycling, but when they are standing in front of three or more bins with a variety of waste products they are suddenly afflicted with trash-amnesia (not a real thing), or they’re skeptical that the location even recycles. TAKE THE GUESS WORK OUT OF IT. Recycling can be complicated, so confusion is understandable, but it should be 100% clear that your business does in fact recycle, and signs will make it clear! This assurance will motivate employees and customers to take the extra moment to sort their trash accurately, helping eliminate contamination of the recycling stream.

Waste stream contamination is one of the biggest problems in the recycling industry, and this problem can cripple the economics of recycling. Sorting mass amounts of recycling later in the process is time-consuming, costly, and detrimental — getting it right at the source is key, and that’s where you come in. Recycle Across America is a nonprofit devoted to solving this exact problem and their simple solution is, you guessed it, labels! (Another word for signage). We agree.

In order to get your employees and customers recycling properly, we cannot stress enough the importance of having accurately colored bins and clear signage. The standard in America is to have two blue bins (one for mixed paper and another for glass, cans and plastic), a green bin for compost, and a black bin for landfill. Color coding your receptacles is the first step, but including clear signage is even more important, and clearly labeled bins are the law in NYC, as of August 1st 2017! Ideally, post multiple signs on each bin so they are visible from the front and the top. Successful signage clearly states the type of waste to be disposed of and provides multiple examples of items that belong in each bin, using pictures.

If you work in a food establishment, consider the exact type of waste that your customers and employees will be sorting and address those in your signage. If you only have one sign or label, it’s best to put it on the top of (or on the wall just above) the bin to ensure that folks know what to do when they are standing over it. Always keep your receptacles arranged in the same order too, to avoid confusion.

These simple steps can make a real difference in your ability to recycle effectively. We’ve mentioned this before, but employees prefer to work for companies that display a sense of awareness and responsibility for the world. Similarly, customers like to support socially responsible businesses. So be a responsible recycler! For the sake of your business and the sake of our planet.

If you want a consultation about responsible recycling in your space, give us a shout! We will gladly perform a waste audit, suggest optimal receptacle placement, provide customized and laminated signage, and train your employees to be recycling experts.

Whether you work in a shared office space with a foosball table, a fancy corporate headquarters with a skyline view, a hot new restaurant, a late-night music venue, or a boutique cafe prizing latte art, you and your coworkers produce a variety of “waste”. Dealing with that waste is complicated, no doubt about it, and while environmentally responsible waste management isn’t always the easiest thing, it doesn’t have to be too difficult either. So whether you own a business, or work somewhere that could use a second look at its waste management policies, we’ve outlined some information below to help ease you into an environmentally sustainable operation.

In 2016 the NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) released an Official Notice that outlines new recycling requirements for businesses. These will be enforceable by law starting August 2017. Additionally, as of July 19, 2016, certain large food waste generators in NYC are required by law to separate their organics. Official Notice here. The organics law applies if you are:

• A food service establishment in a hotel with 150 rooms or more
• A food service venue in an arena or stadium with seating for +15,000 people
• A food manufacturer with a floor area of at least 25,000 square feet
• A food wholesaler with a floor area of at least 20,000 square feet

For more information on the regulations, we’ve written a POST for you!

If none of the above apply to you, but you want to compost your organic waste anyway, we applaud you! Here are some compelling reasons to justify this change to your employees, to convince your boss, or just to brag…

1. Reduced Odors and Pests: Placing food scraps in sealed, leak-proof buckets and/or toters instead of black trash bags makes it hard for vermin and insects to get in and for odors to get out. If you work in an office with a kitchen, you can store food scraps in the refrigerator or freezer, or even start fermenting your food scraps with a pre-composting process using bokashi (more on that soon). Odors be gone!
2. Employee Engagement: Green practices increase employee satisfaction and productivity. Naturally, people enjoy feeling that the work they do has a positive impact. By creating an eco-conscious environment, a business is more likely to extract higher quality work and attain greater commitment by their employees. Composting is a great place to start.
3. Sustainability is Appreciated: In our current climate, awareness is everything and caring about the earth is cool. Consumers notice eco-friendly efforts and want to support businesses that integrate sustainability into their bottom line. If two different cafes offered the same exact coffee, but one served in compostable cups, and the other in survive-the-apocalypse-foam cups, which would you choose for your morning joe? Exactly.
4. Cost Savings: Organics are one of the heaviest components of waste. A post-composting analysis of your waste bill will likely show cost savings that result from diverting heavy food scraps from landfills. This is not a guarantee, but the commercial composting landscape in and around NYC is rapidly evolving, and changes that incentivise composting in the future are increasingly likely.
5. Healthier Planet: Throwing organic materials into the garbage is harmful to the environment. Organic material decomposing in landfills releases methane, a gas 20 times more effective at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide. By separating organic waste, your business will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and simultaneously aid in the creation of nutrient-rich fertilizers and/or renewable energy.

Now armed with five reasons to compost, how do you actually go about putting your fantastic idea into action? The easiest thing to do would be to call or email your friends at Common Ground Compost so we can evaluate your business and help you implement a new system that fits seamlessly with your current operation. But if you’re a DIY’er (much respect), here are some steps you can take…

FIRST: How are you going to dispose of your organic waste?

a.) Hire a private hauler for multiple waste streams, including food waste. It’s

a good idea to get multiple quotes to find the best price. HERE is a list of vendors as of 2015 to get you started. We recommend asking about the programs a potential hauler provides and confirming they work with your type of business.

b.) Hire a micro-hauler (for organic waste only). The following organizations work in NYC and, for a small fee, will pick up your organics and process them locally.

• Reclaimed Organics – Downtown Manhattan

• BK Rot – Bushwick
• Sure We Can – East Williamsburg & Bushwick
• Vokashi – Brooklyn & Manhattan

c.) Self-transport. Most NYC businesses will not elect to self-transport organic waste to a processing facility, but if you do, you must register with the NYC Business Integrity

Commission.

d.) Process on site. For most NYC businesses, processing organic waste on site

will not be possible. However if you are able and choose to do so, you must register

with the DSNY within 30 days of installing on-site processing equipment – check out our post on commercial compost regulations, or contact us to discuss!

SECOND: Depending on who will be processing your organic waste, make sure you know the rules for what can and cannot be composted. This can vary greatly depending on whether your hauler uses an aerobic or anaerobic process, or whether they are a massive facility or a local organization. This is especially true when it comes to dairy and meat products. We can help by contacting your hauling company and/or speaking directly to the compost facility.

THIRD: Educate your employees or fellow co-workers. Find out who on staff is particularly excited to be composting and see if they are interested in managing the process. Make sure your new waste management system is clear enough for a baby to understand. Color coded bins and signs can be really helpful here. We love signage.

FOURTH: Shout it out, loud and proud! Let all customers and visitors know how to dispose of their waste effectively. Make it known that you’re a business that cares about the environment. Post it on your website! Put a sign in the window. No one will chide you for gloating about your waste stream mastery, quite the contrary.

AND IF THAT SEEMS LIKE A LOT OF WORK…

What with all the other responsibilities you have at your job… call us! That’s why we’re here. We’ll come to your place of business (our first site visit is complimentary), and we can perform a waste audit. Next, we’ll contact your existing haulers to make sure you’re getting the best deal on all of your waste streams. If you’re not, we’ll help you get the best bang for your buck. During that initial site visit, we will walk through your business to understand your current layout, and can work with you to determine a seamless waste strategy, educate your employees, set up the necessary infrastructure, and be available to you for any hiccups or questions that arise while you’re adapting. We even provide high fives, free of charge! We love high-fives almost as much as we love composting.

You’ve heard whispers about New York City’s  “Zero Waste” plan and noticed folks carrying those flashy orange totes around; you bumped into a brown organics collection bin in the lobby of your friend’s apartment in Brooklyn that you could swear wasn’t there before; or perhaps you’re just tired of tripping over mounds of garbage bags on the sidewalk and wondering “will anyone put an end to this?!”. Whatever the reason, you’ve decided to start managing your waste more responsibly. That’s an awesome idea! You’ve come to the right place to get educated.

Let’s start with the facts: NYC collects over 3 million tons of trash and recycling every year from residents alone – when combined with commercial, construction, and demolition waste that’s a whopping 14 million tons annually.^[1] Yikes. Moreover, NYC’s residential recycling rate is at a measly 15% when in fact over 30% of our waste can be recycled curbside, another 30% can be composted, and a final 10% can be reused or donated!^[2] So let’s talk about what to do with that 30% of organic waste. That’s why you’re here after all, right?

Source: NYC Dept. of Sanitation, NYC Mayor’s Office, 2011

Let’s tackle the “I-can’t-compost-because” myths:

I don’t have a backyard.

• That’s okay! No need to process your organic waste yourself. You can simply collect acceptable waste and food scraps and hand them off to someone else to do the dirty work of converting it into… dirt! Or renewable energy.

Ok but there’s no convenient way for me to get rid of it!

Have you looked into these options?

• Drop-off Sites. If you live in an area where curbside pickup is not yet an option, here is a map of GrownNYC drop-off sites all over the city. Be sure to click on your nearest site and check the schedule as many sites are only available on certain days.
• Curbside Collection. This option is expanding rapidly, so check out the Department of Sanitations website to see what’s available in your area. You can also input your address here to see if your building is eligible. You can find more information and request a bin for your building from the Department of Sanitation HERE.
• Pickup Services. There are more and more local businesses who will take organic waste off your hands for a small fee.

• Reclaimed Organics – Manhattan b/w Delancey & 23rd Street
• BK Rot – Bushwick
• Sure We Can – East Williamsburg & Bushwick
• Vokashi – Brooklyn & Manhattan

I don’t understand what constitutes organic waste.

We understand, it can get a little complicated!

• GrowNYC: If you’re dropping compost off at a GrowNYC greenmarket, acceptable items include fruit & veggie scraps, non-greasy food scraps (rice, pasta, bread, cereal), coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, nuts, pits, and flowers or plants. See HERE for more details. This material is transferred to a handful of local sites where it gets converted through an aerobic process into fertile soil to be used at local urban farming and gardening projects.
• NYC Compost Project: The DSNY supports seven “demonstration sites” that have “exemplary composting operations and effectively engage their communities in making and using finished compost.”^[3] Material from the NYC compost project is processed in the five boroughs using a variety of aerobic processes, and some these sites are open for public tours upon request! If one of these sites is convenient for you, check their website for details on what materials they accept.
• Curbside Collection: Believe it or not, if you’re enrolled in NYC’s curbside collection program, it’s easier to tell you what you can’t compost: liquids; traditional recyclables including metal, glass, plastic, cartons, clean paper and cardboard; plastic shopping bags and cling wrap; any bathroom or medical waste; animal or pet waste; and cigarette butts or ashes. EVERYTHING ELSE can be composted! This waste will be converted into renewable energy through an anaerobic process.

My roommates won’t be happy if I smell up the apartment with rotting food scraps.

• We bet your roommates will thank you for composting! Most people report reduced kitchen odors after they start composting. Think about it, instead of mixing food scraps with other garbage and letting it sit for days under the sink or out in the open, they are separated from the rest of your trash and sealed off.
• Similarly, in neighborhoods where smelly and easily accessible black trash bags have been replaced with sealed organics collection bins, rats populations have reduced. By carefully separating food scraps in your home, you will help deter pests as well.
• Many NYC residents without the luxury of a backyard keep their compost in the fridge or freezer. You can store it in a tupperware container, reuse your arugula boxes, or fill up the paper bag from last weekend’s groceries and drop it at a local compost site, bag and all. Easy!
• Alternatively, purchase one of these nifty countertop compost bins that are specifically designed to block odors. Store it on your countertop or under the sink. Some compost sites will accept food scraps delivered in compostable bags, but make sure they have the “ASTM D6400 specification” and check that your drop-off site accepts them before purchasing.

Keeping your organic waste out of landfills benefits you, your roommates, your community, the environment, and future generations. Not only are you diverting waste from overflowing landfills, you’re also reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions produced by rotting materials in landfills, contributing to the production of high-quality fertilizer for local use, and helping create a renewable energy source (biogas from methane at anaerobic digestion facilities). We dare you to give us a reason not to compost!

For more information about the movement towards creating a sustainable NYC, check out The OneNYC Plan (pg. 166) to reduce landfill waste by 90% by 2030 and lower greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050. Waste reduction is a really big deal, and incorporating responsible waste management routines, such as composting, into your daily life requires minimal effort. We are touched that you came to us to learn how to be an urban composter, welcome to the club!

eco vs. pollution