Sundays from 9 am to 2 pm

South Street Parking Lot
Warwick, NY

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For more information about Food Scrap drop-off at Common Ground Community Garden, go to growlocalgreenwoodlake.org/composting

Volunteer!

Want to help us collecting food scraps? It’s fun and rewarding! Click the button below and send us an email, we’ll notify you as soon as we have openings in the schedule.

Thank you!

Want to Volunteer?

The Story of the Sustainable Warwick Compost Project

In 2022, Roger Moss and others in Sustainable Warwick devised a plan to collect compostable food scraps on a weekly basis at the Warwick Farmers Market, held on Sundays from May through November. The program started small, collecting two 5-gallon buckets in the first weeks, but the idea caught on and by the end of the 2022 season, there were well over 20 buckets each week, collected from both residents and some of the Market vendors who were glad to contribute their trimmings and other scraps.

That was year one and over the winter, a four-way partnership was hammered out between Sustainable Warwick, the Warwick Valley Farmers Market, the Village of Warwick DPW, and Dan Doyle’s Oasis Farm, where the Farmers Market would provide a table, chairs, and a centrally located tent, Sustainable Warwick volunteers would collect the food scraps in bins provided by the Village DPW, who would then transport those bins to Oasis Farm, dump on the growing pile and return them cleaned and ready for the next Farmers Market. We also want to acknowledge the support and encouragement we have received from the Orange County Recycling Coordinator, Ermin Siljkovic.

Under this new partnership, the program is off to a great year 2 start and there is talk of further expansion — to the entire Town of Warwick, with the ability to accept food scraps 52 weeks a year. Note that Greenwood Lake has already started its own composting program, thanks to Grow Local Greenwood Lake. And other Hudson Valley municipalities have expressed interest — the potential is great.

More Information on Composting - Want to Start Composting in Your Own Yard?

For composting at home, we recommend this great presentation from Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Jim Hall.
To learn about the environmental importance of composting, check out what Project Drawdown has to say about composting.

A third of all food in the U.S. gets wasted. Fixing that could help fight climate change.

COMPOSTING TO SAVE THE PLANET - Read the Washington Post article by clicking on the spaghetti-clad earth!

“When food rots in a landfill, it produces huge amounts of methane — a greenhouse gas at least 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide. But in compost bins, microbes convert that organic matter into nutrient-rich soil, keeping the carbon out of the atmosphere and producing valuable fertilizer. Project Drawdown, a nonprofit researching the best ways to reduce planet-warming emissions, reports that increasing composting around the globe could generate carbon savings equivalent to taking roughly 15 million passenger vehicles off the road for 30 years.” - The Washington Post

The 2023 compost pile located at **Dan Doyle’s Oasis Farm**. This photo was taken immediately after the Village DPW dropped off the collected scraps from the Compost Booth at the Farmers Market. Thanks to Dan and his staff for maintaining the pile for us! They bring in the heavy equipment and turn the pile, adding brown matter like wood chips and dry leaves. This is where it all comes together. For 2024 we have a second compost pile underway as the first pile continues to “cook”— taking your scraps and turning them into rich compost.

2024 Food Scraps Collection is going strong! Thank you for your support of this program!

Volunteering at the Food Scraps Collection table is easy! To view the step-by-step task list click here.

Contact the Compost Committee

Grow Local Greenwood Lake has been collecting food scraps for their Common Ground Community Garden at the Lakeside Farmers Market at Winstanley Park, Greenwood Lake on Saturdays from 9:00-1:00, June through October. They also receive acceptable food scraps at their Community Garden any time. Go to their site to see their list of acceptable items.

Download the Teacher’s Guide to Compost Activities for lots of great information and inspiration for teaching your kids about the benefits of composting!