YES
- Fruit and vegetable scraps
- Coffee grounds, filters, and paper tea bags
- Bread and grains
- Egg and nut shells
- Food-soiled paper towels and napkins
- Shredded newspaper
- Sawdust and wood shavings from untreated wood
- Stale beans, flour, and spices
- Cut or dried flowers
- Houseplants and potting soil
- Feathers
- BPI-Certified compostable plastics
NO
- Meat or fish scraps
- Cheese or dairy products
- Fats, grease, oil, or oily foods
- Cat or dog feces
- Kitty litter
- Colored or glossy paper
- Sawdust made from pressure-treated plywood or lumber
- Coal or charcoal ashes
- Non-compostable materials like plastic, metals, or glass
- Diseased or insect-infested houseplants and soil
- Biodegradable plastics
Big Reuse collected Partner sites
Food scrap dropoff sites are popping up all over the city! See DSNY Food Scrap Drop Off Map for options in your neighborhood - if you don't see a Big Reuse option below. Funding from the City approved by City Council has supports the dropoffs along with efforts of dedicated volunteers and organizations.
Big Reuse has partnered with many inspiring community groups that sprang up when the City cancelled curbside composting collection. We are added more as soon as we can confirm with DSNY and other partners. Big Reuse hauls the food scraps collected back the gropus our two community composting sites in Gowanus and Long Island City for composting with Parks leaves and wood chips. We then give the compost away to community gardens and Parks.
DSNY Map of NYC Food Scrap Drop-Off Sites
McGolrick Park Farmers Market - North BK Compost
Russell St & Nassau Ave, Brooklyn 11222
Sundays 10am - 1pm
Bushwick - BK Rot - Dropoff info
1309 Dekalb Ave, Brooklyn 11221 (Know Waste Lands Community Garden)
Sundays 12pm - 3pm
Bushwick - Sure We Can - Dropoff info
219 McKibben Street, Brooklyn 11206
Mon-Fri 7am - 5pm, Sat 7am - 1pm
Gowanus - Big Reuse Community Composting Site
2 2nd Ave, Brooklyn 11215
Mondays 10am - 2pm
Prospect Lefferts - Nurture BK
Parkside Ave and Ocean Ave (NW Corner), Brooklyn 11226
Sundays 9am - 11am
Prospect Park South - Q Gardens - Dropoff info
8 E 18th St, Brooklyn 11226
Saturdays, 10am - 2pm
Kensington - E 4th Street Community Garden - Dropoff info
173 E 4th St, Brooklyn 11218
Wednesday 4:30 pm – 6:30 pm, Saturday 10:00 am – noon
Prospect Heights Community Farm - Dropoff info
252-256 St Marks Ave, Brooklyn 11238
Warm season (April 1 to October 31): Sundays, 10am-12pm
Cold season (November 1 to March 31): Sundays, 12pm-2pm
Roosevelt Island Farmers Market
543 Main St, Roosevelt Island 10044
Saturdays 10am - 2pm
Windsor Terrace - Prospect Farm - Dropoff info
1194 Prospect Ave, Brooklyn 11218
Saturdays, 11am - 1pm
Jackson Heights - Farm Spot
33-50 82nd Street, Queens
Thursdays 5:30pm-8:30pm
Astoria - Socrates Sculpture Park
32-01 Vernon Blvd, Queens 11106
Daily 9am - Dusk
Astoria Pug: Broadway N/W
32-11 31st St, Astoria 11106
Saturdays 9am - 3pm
Astoria Pug: Steinway
38-12 30th Ave, Long Island City 11103
Saturdays 9am - 3pm
Astoria Pug: Ditmars
Location: 22-70 33rd St, Astoria 11105
Saturdays 9am - 3pm
Astoria Pug: Newtown
30-36 41st St, Astoria 11103
Fridays 10am - 4:30pm