TESTIMONY
Member of Grow NYC on the Importance of Restoring Funding for Community Composting
1:30:32
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154 sec
A representative from Grow NYC advocates for the restoration of funding for community composting, highlighting the program's impacts on jobs, waste diversion, and environmental education.
- Grow NYC supports the restoration of funding for the New York City Compost Project, facing budget cuts affecting seven organizations.
- They detail the potential loss of 65 jobs, 50 of which are union, due to funding shortfalls.
- Grow NYC's program has diverted 24 million pounds of food scraps since its inception in 2011, serving seven thousand participants weekly.
- The representative emphasizes the value of their educational programs in engaging communities and their efficiency in collecting food scraps.
- They urge the city council to preserve vital jobs that educate the public on composting and express concerns over the definition of public organic waste receptacles in proposed legislation.
UNKNOWN
1:30:32
Good morning.
1:30:33
Sherabreu and and members of the committee.
1:30:35
Thanks again for taking time to to hold this this this hearing today and offer all the thoughtful questions and taking time dive deeper into these these issues.
1:30:44
Bron YC is here today to support the rest restoration of funding and reinvestment and community composting.
1:30:50
The mayor's budget cuts have eliminated funding for Grande Ysee in 7 organizations that make up the New York City compost project.
1:30:56
While Grande Ysee has received stop debt funding, support the program.
1:31:00
These funding, this funding will not carry us through the next fiscal year.
1:31:03
The loss of funding will result in the loss The the loss funding will result in the loss of some 65 jobs, 50 of which are union.
1:31:11
Coronavirus c currently operates 50 food scrap drop off sites across New York City collecting 22 tons of food scraps on a weekly basis from 7000 weekly participants.
1:31:21
Since growing YC began its program in 2011, we've diverted £24,000,000 of food scraps from almost 3,000,000 individuals drop offs.
1:31:30
While the tonnage diverted may seem small in comparison to the tonnage collected by DSNY, we have invaluable education educational components to our programs and engage communities through free compost, give back events, street care events, through the Five boroughs.
1:31:44
This education component cannot be replicated by the smart bins.
1:31:47
Our programs have been characterized by the administration as small and efficient and only for the true believers.
1:31:53
We are small by design.
1:31:54
As far as efficiency, ground YC's collection program has consistently averaged between 5 to 7, 6 to 7 pounds of food scraps per donor.
1:32:02
That represents 86100 percent of what a typical New York City household generates according to the 2005 waste characterization study.
1:32:10
That is a very high cap rate, one that might be considered efficient.
1:32:15
As far as the true believers, yes, the reason the participants in our programs are true believers that they have benefited from education provided by our staff to understand that composting process and why it's an important tool in mitigating climate change.
1:32:26
It seems to us that as the city strives expand the curbside composting program, the city would want tribal leaders to maximize the program.
1:32:34
We implore the city council to preserve these vital jobs that edit that that educate the public to participate in the city's curbside program actively and enthusiastically when it becomes available to all New York City residents by restoring funding togrown YC.
1:32:46
And the New York City Compress project.
1:32:48
Finally, we're concerned with intro358 that does not specify what it come what a public organic waste receptacle is.
1:32:57
If they're intended to be smart bins, we think a wiser investment would be greater community impact, with a greater community impact would be Restoration of Funding for mute composting.
1:33:05
Thank you for your time.
