COMMUNITY COMPOSTING PROGRAM - SPRING SEASON 2022
Join us March 5th at 12pm at St. Joseph Villa to learn more about our Community Composting Program and pick up your 6-gallon galvanized pail!
Phase #1 of ECI’s new Zero Waste Initiative is the development of a Community Composting Program. ECI members divert wasted food scraps from the landfill and create nutrient-rich, “black gold” compost to be used at home. A composting site at the Good Ground Heritage Garden has been developed for the program.
Why: ECI hopes to close the loop on food waste while empowering community members, schools, and local businesses. The Community Composting Program diverts food waste from the landfill and into home gardens as nutrient-rich compost. Closing the loop on food waste is imperative to build healthy soil, and create resilient local food systems while fighting climate change ♻️
When: The Community Composting Program - Spring Season will from March 1, 2022 through May 31, 2022. Thereafter, program participants will have the option of continuing onto the Summer 2022 Composting Season beginning in March. New participants will be contacted regarding an introduction to the program and how to receive your pail.
How: Collect food waste daily in your ECI compost pail and deliver it weekly (optional curbside pickup service available; free for homebound elderly) to the Good Ground Heritage Garden composting site. Drop-off days are 7 days/week during daylight hours. You will be responsible for cleaning out your pail to eliminate any smells and residue. A scale and log book will be on location to weigh and record your scraps at every dropoff. ECI staff will track your waste reduction each month earning you compost to share with our charity garden or for your own personal use! Your participation in this important project will help reduce the harmful gases released into the environment contributing to climate change.
Where: The Good Ground Heritage Garden at the St. Joseph Villa, 81 Lynn Avenue, Hampton Bays.
Price: $40 includes a 6-gallon galvanized pail (a $20 value, yours to keep!) for collecting and transporting food scraps. Optional: for an additional $20, we will provide curbside pickup service in Hampton Bays and East Quogue (free for homebound elderly). Program participants will be offered 20 lbs. of the finished “black gold” compost at the end of the 3-month composting season. Returning participants have the option of renewing for $30 per composting season. All participants must be ECI Members ($5 per month or $50 per calendar year).
What we accept: fruit peels & veggie scraps (be sure to remove all non-organic materials including plastic stickers, bands, and tags), egg shells, nut shells, coffee grounds, tea, non-plastic tea bags, toilet paper cores, sawdust, wood ashes, hay, straw, yard trimmings, grass clippings, natural fibers in small pieces: wool, cotton, linen, hemp, & silk, unbleached paper towels & napkins, herbivore manure, flowers & plant matter, egg cartons, & shredded brown paper bags & newsprint.
What we do not accept: meat*, fish*, bones*, dairy*, grease*, oil*, bleached or laminated paper products, materials sprayed with pesticide, omnivore manure, large pieces of wood*, coal ash, raw potatoes or raw potato peels*, "compostable" plastics, coffee cups, gloss paper, cat litter, & diseased or insect-ridden plants.
* = acceptable for municipal compost
In Spring 2020, we introduced and demonstrated the Community Composting Program to new participants at the composting site at ECI’s Good Ground Heritage Garden. If you are new to the program, please watch this video to learn how to weigh, log, and drop off your weekly food scraps.