Composting By Bike

When she was 17, Karina Santana spent her summer making “compost salad.” She’d smash up banana peels, apple cores, and other food scraps that had been collected around Brooklyn, a borough of New York City. It’s “very fun and very good at getting your rage out!” she says. That summer, Karina was a youth leader at BK ROT, a community composting program. Compost is a natural fertilizer made from food scraps, yard waste, and more. When organic materials decompose together, they create this dark nutrient-rich material you can add to soil.

One of BK ROT’s goals is to fight climate change—the gradual change in Earth’s average temperature and weather patterns. Food waste that goes to landfills releases the heat-trapping greenhouse gases methane and carbon dioxide. Composting slashes emissions from food waste in half. In fact, many cities are mandating compost programs to try to fight climate change.

When she was 17, Karina Santana spent her summer making "compost salad." She smashed up banana peels and other food scraps. The food scraps came from all over Brooklyn. (Brooklyn is a borough of New York City.) "It was very fun and very good at getting your rage out!" she says. Karina was a youth leader at BK ROT that summer. This group makes compost for its community. Compost is a natural fertilizer. It's made from food scraps, yard waste, and more that decompose, or break down, together.  The result is a nutrient-rich material you can add to soil.  

One of BK ROT's goals is to fight climate change. Climate change is the gradual change in Earth's average temperature and weather patterns. Food waste in landfills releases gases as it decomposes. Methane and carbon dioxide are two of the gases it releases. They are also greenhouse gases, which trap heat in the atmosphere. This warms the planet and contributes to climate change. But composting can cut the greenhouse gases from food waste in half! Many cities are making laws to create composting programs. Lawmakers hope this will help fight climate change.

Where does BK ROT get its food scraps? They collect food waste from homes and restaurants in Brooklyn. A team of teens and young adults bike around the neighborhoods gathering it. By using bikes instead of gas-powered cars, the group avoids spewing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Even if a person doesn’t bike, there are other jobs to do. “Some people feel comfortable on a bike in the streets of New York City,” Karina says. “But I was not going to do that!”

BK ROT’s composting process produces fewer greenhouse gases because they air out the food first. Microbes that live in high-oxygen conditions produce less methane as they break down food. The composting process takes about a month. The final compost is then donated to community gardens. People can also buy it for their backyard gardens.

Karina is now in college majoring in environmental studies and public policy. She still works for BK ROT on its social media team. She also hopes to grow her own garden this summer. This winter, Karina added some of BK ROT’s compost to her garden “so that when it’s springtime, it’s good for plants to grow in,” she says.

Where does BK ROT get its food scraps? They collect it from homes and restaurants in Brooklyn. A team of teens and young adults bike around Brooklyn picking it up. Using bikes also fights climate change. That's because bikes don't create greenhouse gases like cars do. There are also jobs for people who don't bike. "Some people feel comfortable on a bike in the streets of New York City," Karina says. "But I was not going to do that!" 

All decomposing food releases gases as microbes break it down. But BK ROT's composting process produces fewer greenhouse gases. Why? Because they air out the food first. The microbes in aired-out food create fewer greenhouse gases. This composting process takes about a month. BK ROT donates its final compost to community gardens. People can also buy it for their backyard gardens.

Karina is now in college. She's majoring in environmental studies and public policy. She still works on BK ROT's social media team. Karina hopes to grow her own garden this summer. This winter, Karina added some of BK ROT's compost to her garden. "When it's springtime, it's good for plants to grow in," she says.