At its Red Hook Community Farm, Added Value manages the largest and most diverse community composting program in Brooklyn. At peak performance, the program processes over 160 tons of the community’s organic waste in a year. That waste becomes a rich amendment to the soil for the farm and the community, rather than winding up in faraway landfills, transported there by trucks that hurt the environment and then releasing landfill gases that further hurt the environment.
Our program is multi-dimensional and reflects the array of hand-made composting systems, including winterized wormbins, “hot compost” pens, hand-crank and spin tumblers, and the only windrows in New York City maintained entirely by hand and right through the winter. The organic material for the program derives from the Farm itself (weeds, spoiled produce, spent crop material), and from contributions made by a diversely rich spectrum of community members: our restaurant partners, the Park Slope Food Coop, the Parks Department, our farmers market, and individual households.
While several businesses and institutions contribute compostables to our program, we are unable to accept large amounts of compostable material unless we have made arrangements in advance with the source — if we do not know what it is, or we do not need it, then we can’t use it and it gets tossed, and everyone’s time is wasted.
WE WELCOME HOUSEHOLD KITCHEN WASTE FROM RED HOOK! For members of the Red Hook community wishing to drop-off their household kitchen veggie and fruit scraps and coffee grounds (no meats, dairy, or vegetable oils), we welcome you in particular on Saturdays from April to November, 10 am to 3 pm.
Please do not leave bags/buckets by the gates, because it attracts rodents and we do not have the resources to process such materials. Instead, proceed to our “compost row” on the southwest edge of the farm and you will find easy self-help instructions for composting your material in less that 3 minutes.
WINTER HOURS
Please check the calendar on our home page for “community composting” times, when our volunteer composters will be at the Farm from December through March and can process your household kitchen waste. Plan to join in the winter compost work if you can; the more volunteers the better!
If you’d like to learn more about participating in the largest and most diverse community composting program in Brooklyn, please use the form on our Contact Us page.