Dear City Council and the Department of Parks &
Recreation,
When I first moved to New York in 2011, I landed in the East Village like so many new New Yorkers do. I quickly found my home there. I found new and old New Yorkers excited to be a part of a kinetic neighborhood. I also found the L.E.S Ecology Center and their community compost program.
Instead of being sent to landfills or incinerated often near low-income neighborhoods, local community compost sites help to reduce greenhouse gases, reduce air quality issues, create nutrient rich soil to grow healthier food, and makes it easier for more people to get involved in local ecology.
The work being done at the Big Reuse and the L.E.S Ecology Center’s compost sites will help build back a stronger and more fair city for all New Yorkers.
Beyond New York City, we need to recognize how we can lead global change in positively impacting our shared global environment. New York City has always been a messy experiment. Millions of driven, creative people come together in these five boroughs to be a part of something greater than themselves. It’s not always easy but New Yorkers know that what they’re doing here creates the best. They know that the grit of New Yorkers polishes the world as a whole. We push harder and further to make change.
Two community composting sites may seem insignificant in the crisis our planet is in but that’s why these compost sites are so important. We need the city council and the Department of Parks & Recreation to not only recognize what these sites help with but also that we as a city are willing to push harder and further to make the change we need here and across the globe. We need to choose to do the small things that add up to something bigger. We need to show the world that New Yorkers have the grit to take on the change our planet so deeply needs.
Parks Commissioner Mitchell Silver and Mayor Bill de Blasio: please renew the license agreements for these community composting sites instead of adding to our landfills. Please choose to help rebuild a stronger New York when we need it most. Please choose to help New York City, with our focus and our determination, work towards leading change in our global climate crisis.
Thank you,
Nick Wynja