The Fall of '09

Five Boroughs. A Million Trees.
For the leaves this fall, it’s a race to the bottom.

Until 2008, the City collected 20,000 tons of leaves each year from residential trees and composted them in municipal facilities. The compost was then returned to us through community gardens, parks, and public givebacks to help us improve our soil –  enriching our trees, vegetables, and neighborhoods. Last year, due to a lack of financial/political support, our NYC Council representatives cut the collection and compost of residential leaves out of the city’s budget.  As thrilling as the Million Trees Initiative may be, what will now become of those additional thousands of tons of fallen leaves?  It’s time to stake our claim in the compost heap.  Less landfill, more love:

You are invited to a citywide LeafDrop party!

We – community gardeners, neighborhood associations, and concerned residents – are uniting to harvest, compost, and document our reclamation of fallen leaves. We want to join our neighbors to take these specific, sustainable actions for the benefit of our communities, our city, and our planet. Above all, we want City Council and the Mayor to wake up to the news that compost is a real solution to a really big waste problem.  Why trash the material that can help a Million Trees thrive?

One inch of compost can keep a young tree healthy.  Will volunteers across the city harvest enough leaves to make compost for all of our new street trees*?  We’ll keep track, ton by ton, so City Hall can see that there is mounting interest in responsible waste management, and a mountain of fallen leaves that could be composted for the greening of our city.

Join a local compost crew for leaves in your neighborhood.

Community gardeners and other fabulous folks in Brooklyn have already organized drop-off dates, inspired by the pioneering work of 6/15 Green, where 1.5 tons of leaves were accepted last year!  Keep the momentum going: Add Your Garden to the team, or find your community garden and connect with volunteers through your local neighborhood association or CSA group (see Borough Resources for additional support).  Whether your garden or green space is already equipped to make compost with leaves, or you’re just beginning to plan for soil-building activities, we’re working toward a network of partners, so any way you can get involved is deeply appreciated.  Send an email to compost@nycleaves.org with questions, comments, or tips!

Want to help without leaving the house?  Easy.  Sign this petition to bring back leaf composting to NYC, and check out the Advocacy page (one call is worth a thousand online signatures) to shout-out to your City Council representative – also easy, and immediately empowering.

But this season beckons you to make gold before the sun sets, and your neighbors will think you’re cool if you school them on this project. Rake some leaves, bag ‘em up, bring ‘em in, build compost bins in your yards and gardens. There are many ways to take Action, and if you’ve already seen the light of dirt, add a comment to this page with any words of support.

A million thanks to Earth Matter, 6/15 Green, East New York Farms!, Prospect Heights Community Farm, Sustainable Flatbush, Queens Compost Project + Brooklyn Compost Project (both part of the NYC Compost Project) for the startup sparks.

See you on the streets and in the gardens this fall!

*For new street trees tagged by the Million Trees Initiative, we will need 22,222 cubic yards of compost to cover one inch in each bed. That’s a lot of compost.  (Thanks to Jon of PHCFarm!)