Compost NOW (New Orleans Waste) Awarded Healthy Communities Grant for Food Waste Drop Off Project
Compost NOW expands to nine food waste drop off sites each week, offering increased convenience to local residents
NEW ORLEANS – Compost NOW been selected as a recipient of the Healthy Communities Grant by Keep Louisiana Beautiful, the State’s premier anti-litter and community improvement organization.
This year’s grant will support Compost NOW in hosting free, weekly food waste collections at nine community libraries across New Orleans. Grant funds will be used to purchase bins for new sites, upgrade bins at successful and growing sites and arrange for the transport of the food waste to local farms to be turned into nutrient-rich compost, or used to feed farm animals.
“This grant will allow us to offer this free service at nine different locations each week through at least Spring next year,” said Compost NOW founder Lynne Serpe. “I’m excited to be able to expand this opportunity to residents in even more parts of the City. Diverting food waste from the landfill not only decreases methane emissions but allows local farmers to create compost to amend their soil, so they can grow healthier food and improve the water retention rates of their soil.”
About Compost NOW (New Orleans Waste)
Compost NOW partners with the New Orleans Public Library to host frozen food waste collections in different neighborhoods across the city. With nearly 40 drop off options each month, Compost NOW hops to make recycling food waste as easy and convenient as possible for local residents.
Founded in January 2017 by Master Composter Lynne Serpe, our mission is to empower local residents to take control over the issue of food waste. We collect nearly a ton of food scraps each week, and will have diverted over 100,000 pounds of food waste from the landfill by the end of 2018.
Compost NOW partners with Schmelly's Dirt Farm, Sugar Roots Farm, Speakeasy Farm and Abundance Flower Farm to keep local resources local, and ensure food waste is turned into nutrient-rich compost or used to feed farm animals.
HOW IT WORKS
Residents are asked to FREEZE and bring fruit and vegetable scraps, peels, or pits; eggshells, nut shells, seed shells; tea bags, coffee grounds, paper filters; plain pasta, plain grains, plain bread. NO MEAT, NO DAIRY, NO OILY FOODS, NO BONES.
NINE SITES, SIX DAYS A WEEK:
Every Saturday: Rosa Keller Library, rear entrance, 10:30am-noon
Every Saturday: Hubbell Library, 2:00 - 3:30pm
Every Sunday: Norman Mayer Library, 2:00 - 3:30pm
Every Monday: Children's Resource Center Library, 4:00-5:30pm
NEW Every Tuesday: Nora Navra Library, 5:30-7:00pm -- starting September 18th
Every Wednesday: Carriage House Bookshop, behind Latter Library 12:30-2:00pm
Every Wednesday: Mid-City Library, 5:30-7:00 pm
NEW Every Thursday: Main Library, 8:30am-10:00am -- starting September 20th
Every Thursday: Alvar Library, 5:30-7:00pm
For more information about Compost NOW please visit www.compost-now.org
About Keep Louisiana Beautiful
Keep Louisiana Beautiful, Inc. is the state's anti-litter and community improvement organization focused on education, enforcement, awareness and cleanups. Affiliated with Keep America Beautiful, Keep Louisiana Beautiful's mission is to promote personal, corporate and community responsibility for a clean and beautiful Louisiana. With a network of 38 affiliates in communities throughout the state, over 27,000 volunteers work toward a clean and beautiful Louisiana.