Compost Frequently Asked Questions
Drop Offs
Where/when can I drop off compost?
How do I bring my food scraps?
How do I store my food scraps at home?
Can businesses drop off food waste?
Are there any other drop off locations in NYC?
Worm Bins
How do I purchase red wiggler worms and/or a worm condo?How do I set-up a worm bin?
How much can I feed my worm bin?
What temperature do I need to keep my worm bin in?
My worms are trying to escape what should I do?
Will my worm bin smell?
Will the bin attract other bugs?
I see a lot of small reddish-brownish dots in my bin, what are they?
Will the bin attract flies?
How do I get rid of fruit flies in my bin?
When will the bin be ready to harvest?
How do I harvest my worm bin?
If I do not have my own plants, what can I do with my compost?
Does the Ecology Center provide workshops on worm bin composting?
Outdoor Composting
Can you really compost outdoors in NYC?
How do I compost outdoors in NYC?
How do I avoid getting rodents and other pests in my compost bin?
How long does it take to compost?
How do I know when my compost is ready?
Does the Ecology Center give workshops on outdoor composting?
Drop Offs
Where/when can I drop off compost?
Union Square Greenmarket. If you cannot find us, please ask the Greenmarket Manager or one of the other farm stands where the compost stand is and they will point you in the right direction. We are there year round, every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 8 am to 5 pm.
Lower East Side Ecology Center Community Garden, north side of East 7th Street between Avenues B and C. The drop-off is open year round, every Sunday from 8 am to 5 pm; all other times please tie your bag and slide it through the wrought iron fence by gate where a collection bin is located.
What CAN I compost?
fruit and vegetable peelings
non greasy food scraps or leftovers
rice, pasta, bread, cereal, etc.
coffee grounds with filter, tea bags
hair and nails (animal or human)
egg and nut shells
cut or dried flowers, houseplants, potting soil
What CAN’T I compost?
meat
dairy
oily foods
dog or cat feces, kitty litter
coal or charcoal
coconuts
diseased and/or insect infested houseplants or soil
How do I bring my food scraps?
Please bring your acceptable food scraps in a plastic bag, milk or juice carton or other reusable container.
To make this program sustainable on our end, please empty your bag or container into our large gray compost bins at the market. You can also bring your material in a Bio Bag, which is a compostable bag, which can be dropped right into the bin. Bio Bags can be purchased at the compost stand or at Whole Foods Market and online.
At the Ecology Center Garden, please empty your bags or containers into our large gray compost bins when the garden is open.
When the gate is closed, please slide bags through the wrought iron fence by the gate into the gray bin. Please do not leave any bags in front of the gate.
How do I store my food scraps at home?
We suggest keeping your scraps in the freezer or refrigerator, until you drop off to avoid smells in your home or at the drop off - at the market we are next to farmers selling fresh produce and many New Yorkers who come to the market to enjoy the experience.
Can businesses drop off food waste?
Sorry, but we only offer the drop off program for individual households, not businesses. If you want to get your compost picked up for processing you will need to contract with a compost hauler.
Are there any other drop off locations in NYC?
Created by Green Map System and Lower East Side Ecology Center, a Manhattan Compost Map is available at the Union Square Compost Stand, or you can view the pdf version.
Worm Bins
How do I purchase red wiggler worms and/or a worm condo?
We sell red wiggler worms at our Union Square Greenmarket Composting Stand. Please see our products page for prices and exact bin measurements. We strongly recommend that you call or email us to pre-order your worms. We can be reached at (212) 477-4022 or by email.
How do I set-up a worm bin?
Please see our directions for step-by-step instructions.
How much can I feed my worm bin?
The amount of food scraps that a worm bin can handle is a relationship between the size (16"x19"x12" high) and the amount of worms (one pound is recommended for this size of bin). This kind of bin can handle up to 3 pounds of food scraps per week. Three pounds of food waste fills the plastic bag that a loaf of bread comes in, or a 10 cup Tupperware container.
What temperature do I need to keep my worm bin in?
Worms should be kept in temperature conditions of 50-80 degrees. They cannot be kept outside in the winter in New York City. In the summer, worm bins should not be placed in full sun for the entire day.
My worms are trying to escape, what is going on?
Worms only try to escape if they are uncomfortable in the bin, usually meaning that the bin is either too hot or too wet. Worm bins can become too wet, from either adding too much food or adding too many juicy foods at the same time (i.e. water melon or frozen food). If your bin is too wet, you want to mix in some new dry newspaper strips to soak up that extra water. If you freeze your food scraps before adding them, you will probably want to always add some dry newspaper when feeding the worms. There should never be any standing water at the bottom of your bin.
Will my worm bin smell?
If you care for your bin correctly it should not smell at all. As long as there is air circulating around the food scraps you will have aerobic decomposition in the bin, which does not smell. You achieve this by making sure that your food scraps are always covered over with fluffy bedding, aka the newspaper strips. If the bedding gets matted down from being too wet it can cut off the source of air and start to get smelly.
Will the bin attract other bugs?
As long as you care for your bin correctly it should not attract other bugs. There are other decomposer insects that are part of the process that may appear in your worm bin, like small mites, and springtails, but they do not get out of the bin and into your apartment. However, if you already have a roach problem in your apartment we recommend thinking carefully about getting a worm bin beforehand.
I see a lot of small reddish-brownish dots in my bin, what are they?
The dots you are seeing are most likely small mites, which are totally normal to have in a worm bin and usually congregate around the top of the bin. Mites are another decomposer that help with the composting process, there is nothing wrong with having mites and they usually appear in bins that are on the wetter side. The mites will not hurt or bother the worms if they stay in small numbers, and it is a good idea to try to minimize the mite population by removing any food scraps that seem to be covered with them, as well as wiping them off the top and sides of the worm bin. You can also try to bait them by putting a piece of bread on top of the bedding and letting them congregate on it and then taking it out and throwing it away.
Will the bin attract flies?
The worm bin should not attract large houseflies. However, one of the most common nuisances with worm bins are fruit flies. The larvae of fruit flies are in the skin of tropical fruits like bananas, oranges, mangos, papayas, pineapples, etc. If you compost these peels in your worm bin there is a chance the bin may get fruit flies. To avoid fruit flies, you can kill the larvae by either freezing the skins or warming them up in the microwave for about a minute, before adding the scarps into your worm bin, or just leave them out all together.
How do I get rid of fruit flies in my bin?
If you get fruit flies in your bin you need to take action, because it will only get worse. Make a fruit fly trap, by cutting off the top 1/4 of a plastic bottle, invert the top to create a funnel and pour some beer, wine or fruit juice in the bottle. Place trap inside the bin and dispose of flies and liquid.
You can also take the bin outside and open it, sunny days work the best, since the fruit-flies will fly out of the bin. Fluff the bedding to get even more of them to leave. In the colder month, leave the bin outside for a few hours, the tropical fruit flies will die, but the worms are not harmed. If that does not work, then you can separate the worms from the compost and other decomposing material in the bin, throw that stuff out, clean out the bin with water, and then start the worms in it again. It works, don’t give up!
When will the bin be ready to harvest?
It usually take about 3-4 months to get enough worm castings accommodated to make the harvest worth while.
How do I harvest my worm bin?
Stop feeding the bin for 2 weeks so that the worms can finish eating all of the food scraps. Then separate all of the finished compost with worms in it into one half of the bin, and any left over food scraps and newspaper to the other half of the bin. Add fresh bedding only to the area of the bin where the unfinished food scraps are. You can also start adding fresh food scraps to that area. Give the worms about two weeks to migrate over to the new side and then you can scoop out the compost and use it. Add more bedding, so you can utilize the whole area of your bin for composting again. You can compost with the same worms in your bin indefinitely.
If I do not have my own plants, what can I do with my compost?
If you do not have a garden or any houseplants to use the compost on, you can try to give it to a friend, or see if you can donate it to a nearby community garden or park, by talking to one of the leaders there. If you have street trees on your block, you can use the compost to nourish your tree pit.
Does the Ecology Center provide workshops on worm bin composting?
Yes, the Ecology Center provides public workshops in setting up and maintaining a worm bin in your apartment. Please see our calendar for upcoming workshops.
Outdoor Composting
Can you really compost outdoors in NYC?
Yes! Composting in NYC works just like composting anywhere else, we call it urban composting. However, due to the high volume of people and other ecology in the city, we recommend watching out for a few things, namely that your bin is rodent and pest-proof, to avoid attracting unwanted visitors. We also recommend not composting meat, dairy, and oily products, although these materials will decompose, and could be composted in a larger system. We recommend leaving these materials out because when they decompose they get rancid and produce smells that can attract rodents.
How do I compost outdoors in NYC?
Please see outdoor composting directions for a complete do-it-yourself instrcution guide.
How do I avoid getting rodents and other pests in my compost bin?
Carefully maintain your bin, and always be sure that whenever you add food scraps or fresh green garden material, that you cover it over with a layer of 6 to 12 inches of a dry brown material like fall leaves, soil or wood shavings. This measure will keep flies from using your compost pile as a breeding place.
Turn your bin, as often as you can, and at at least once every other week. This will aid in the composting process by providing needed air to the pile as well as make it an unattractive place for rodents to nest. No rodent wants to nest in a place that is always getting disturbed. Also, do not compost meat, dairy, and oily products, as they can attract flies and rodents.
As a preventive measure, line the bottom and sides of the compost bin with a thick metal screen, called hardware cloth, to discourage rodents from burrowing into it. You can also put the bin on a piece of metal, stone blocks, gravel, or paved part of the garden to deter burrowing. Having a tight fitting lid on the bin also helps to deter rodents.
If you are buying a new compost bin and you are concerned about rodents, you may want to purchase a rodent-proof compost bin right from the get-go. Rodent proof bins are usually either metal with a tight fitting lid, or thick plastic and suspended off the ground, with a tight fitting lid, like a compost tumbler.
How long does it take to compost?
Composting outdoors takes anywhere from 3 to 12 months, depending on the materials that you add and how often you turn you compost. The more often you turn it and the better mix of the right materials you have, the faster it will decompose.
How do I know when my compost is ready?
When your compost is ready it should resemble dark, rich and crumbly topsoil. It should smell like fresh earth and nothing else. Then you can do the bag test. Put a small scoop of compost in a plastic bag and close the bag for a couple of days. When you open the bag and you detect a smell it needs to compost for longer, and if it does not smell it is ready to use.
Does the Ecology Center give workshops on outdoor composting?
Yes, the Ecology Center offers public workshops on outdoor composting, please see our calendar for upcoming dates.