Students and Families Advocate for Community Composting

As of 1 January 2024, funding by the City to organizations such as GrowNYC, LES Ecology Center, Big Reuse or Earth Matter NY to operate NYC’s community compost and composting education programme will be discontinued.

Such a decision will result in dozens of employees unexpectedly losing their jobs over the holiday season. It will also disproportionately affect NYC’s schools and students which rely on such organizations to learn about the importance of composting, its positive contribution to curbing climate change, and its impact on soil fertilization.

It is in this context that members of the MCS Sustainability Committee participated in two rallies organized on November 30th and December 6th at City Hall, in support of the restoration of Community Compost into NYC’s budget. Parents joined Big Reuse staff Vivian Carter (📸), who previously spoke at MCS in the context of  the 26 April  2022 Parent-Led Forum on Composting, and who is expected to be laid off on January 1st along with her colleagues.

Parents are not the only MCS community members who are appalled by the City’s decision. 5th graders spent most of the fall season diving into sustainability issues. They visited some of the organizations that are targeted by the announced budget cuts as part of their sustainability curriculum. In preparation of MCS’ winter assembly, on 15 December 2023, they decided to rise and speak up in support of community compost. They designed signs during school hours, under the supervision of their homeroom teachers, and marched with determination across Upper West Side streets, proudly showing residents that no one is too young to fight for what is right.

What you can do: