COMMUNITY COMPOSTING
SJC has been supporting community-based composting in Jersey City for years, through informational workshops, advocacy, and partnering with community gardens to establish compost systems.
Whether you compost at a public drop-spot, at home, or with a subscription pick-up service, Jersey City residents are ensuring their food scraps not only stay out of landfills, but contribute to healthy soil within their community.
Most recently, SJC launched a Community Education Initiative known as the Eco-Ambassador Program to create awareness around reducing food waste and to promote composting at home, schools, public institutions and commercial food establishments.
Click to learn more about this hands-on initiative!
Likewise, Contact us if you want to be directly involved with the composting activities SJC supports.
Food Waste Reduction Starts at the Source!
Remember - The best way to prevent food waste is to be more conscious about the food we buy! Reference the EPA’s ‘Food Too Good to Waste’ Guide for the Top Five Ways to Waste Less Food
Find The Composting Option That Works Best for You
Locate a Public Drop Site
In June 2019, the City of Jersey City launched a compost pilot consisting of three drop sites around Jersey City for residents to deposit their food scraps and as of August 2022 they have expanded to ten (10) locations! Click here to see the (expanded) list of drop sites and find the one nearest you!
Here is the Compost Workshop Curriculum we shared with the City of Jersey - if you wish to offer a Compost Workshop at one of these or at another location, feel free to use this material - reach our Master Composter Tyler Randall with any questions !(tylerc.randall@gmail.com)
Compost at Home
If you are fortunate to have access to a backyard or outdoor space, that is the perfect place to have a compost system.
Here are two containers that you can purchase. Both are ideal for on-site composting:
Every spring the Hudson County Improvement Authority sells compost bins for residents to affordably backyard compost. Take a look at the calendar of events to check for upcoming sales.
Interested in being a part of the City’s backyard compost pilot? Register here.
How does Backyard Composting work?
Creating a productive compost bin is all about managing the ratio of “greens” and “browns”. “Browns” is a nickname for materials rich in carbon, like leaves, dried grass, and wood chips; “greens” is a nickname for materials rich in nitrogen, like fruit and veggie scraps, fresh grass clippings and coffee grounds. Microorganisms in the compost pile break down these materials as they feed, relying on a healthy mix of carbon and nitrogen for their optimal growth. The rule of thumb for this balance is two parts green to one part well-packed browns.
Join a Community Garden
Jersey City has almost 20 community gardens!
Take a look at our interactive map to see which one is closest to your neighborhood. You can contact that garden to see what composting opportunities they offer.
Subscribe with a third party pick-up service
If you are not in the proximity of a community garden and you wish to have your food scraps picked up, please check out our friends over at Community Compost Company who are back-hauling food scraps to farmers in the Hudson Valley. Their pick-up service is available to residences and businesses in Hoboken and Jersey City.
Highlight: SJC’s Bokashi Bucket Exchange
From 2014-March 2022, SJC operated a composting program at St. Paul’s P.E.A.C.E. Garden using a unique type of food recycling known as Bokashi. This method uses activated microbes to break down food through fermentation. This is a great option for people in apartments without the outdoor space required for traditional composting. An added benefit is being able to recycle all forms of food waste, including meat, dairy, and oils.
Participants of the program were given an empty 5-gallon bucket (and 1-lb bag of inoculated wheat bran), to take home and fill with food scraps. Once full, the bucket was returned and exchanged for a new one. After the necessary fermentation period, the material was trenched in the soil of garden beds or added to compost bins of local community gardens.
For more information about how the program operated, please email info@sustainablejc.org .
Click here to learn more about this composting alternative.
Much gratitude goes to Bokashi Master, Shig Matsukawa who is a key education partner for this program at St. Paul’s!
Also, check out Brooklyn-based Vokashi, a small business in Brooklyn who has developed a social enterprise around recycling food scraps using the Bokashi method.
