One of the many important community projects that was quashed by the COVID-19 pandemic was the completion of the neighborhood compost site at the Abyssinian Tot Lot in historic Central Harlem. Keeping food scraps out of landfills is vital for reining in greenhouse gases. Creating compost from those scraps is a simple way to transform them into an amazingly useful product. Not only does composting break down food scraps and other types of trash in a way that's less environmentally harmful than tossing them with the garbage, it also creates a nutrient-rich fertilizer that can be used to grow more food! That alone is reason enough to support a composting project. But there are so many more benefits! There are the physical benefits of working outdoors, spiritual benefits of engaging with Mother Earth and connecting to her seasons, mental benefits of learning to balance the compost mixture and the how's and why's of maintaining the health of the earth, emotional benefits in watching the transformation of trash into treasure. And we haven't even started talking about the gardens, the fruits and vegetables, and the adventures in preparing homegrown foods!

Now, through a partnership between Malcolm X Boulevard Beautification Group and Shugah Baybees Child Development Center, we are picking up where the project had to leave off two years ago. The site has already been designated DSNY food scrap collection site. With the help of donations, neighbor volunteers, and cooperation with community agencies, we'll be able to move forward with procuring proper food scrap and waste collection bins; purchasing the necessary chopping, mixing, and turning tools; building sheds for tool storage; and best of all, holding public events to engage and educate our friends and neighbors about closing the food waste loop by turning scraps into usable compost that will, in turn, create more food. With newly built garden beds already on the site, a full kitchen in the Shugah Baybees center that can be used for food prep classes, and an excited group of parents and children who will help kick-start our first year of production and spread the word to others, the project will contribute to the health and wellness of the neighborhood by mitigating food waste, engaging residents in the physical activities of composting and gardening, and educating people on composting, organic gardening, and fresh food preparation.