It is Saturday, March 10, 2018 and Pamela Penkert has come to attend the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) at the United Nations. But being Saturday, Anne Considine and Virginia Dorgan of the East 93rd Street Community in NYC make the trip to bring the week’s compost to 82nd Street between 1st & 2nd Avenues. Pamela came along for the trip.
The City of New York is supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to have zero landfill waste by 2030. In the photo to the left, you see the orange reusable bag that the City provided to people to carry the compost. Above the bag rests the small blue and white cooler that we use as a compost bin on the 3rd floor of East 93rd Street. In addition to disposing of vegetable peelings in this cooler, we also put in coffee grounds. Frequently, we empty the compost bin and freeze the contents.
Just this week as Virginia was shopping at a market, her purchase was put into the green plastic bags shown here. These bags are biodegradable so the compost can go right into them and then into the big bins on compost day. Most grocery stores in NYC still use the plastic bags that are polluting our lands and oceans, so this is a welcome development!
Another great part of the compost drop off area is that there is also a fresh market! Before leaving, Anne and Pamela took some time to examine the kinds of apples that are in now.