Forest Hills Environmental Group Expands Composting to North Side of Queens Boulevard

The Forest Hills Green Team gets ready for the food scrap drop-off site at 67-09 108th St. that begins Sunday (Photo: Facebook)

March 30, 2022 By Christian Murray

A local environmental group is opening a composting site that aims to serve Forest Hills residents who live on the north side of Queens Boulevard.

The Forest Hills Green Team is opening a composting site—starting Sunday– at 67-09 108^th St. where residents will be able to drop off their food scraps. The group has formed a partnership with Commonpoint Queens, a social services organization that is based where the composting site will be located, and the Queens Botanical Gardens to establish the site.

The new location complements the two existing Forest Hills sites—both on the south side of Queens Boulevard. There is the Compost Collective, which is located at Kessel and Yellowstone Boulevard, which is open on Saturdays, as well as the GrowNYC Site, located at the Farmer’s Market (on the south side of Queens Boulevard at 70^th Avenue) on Sundays.

“Starting last May, when GrowNYC had closed down the Compost Site in the Farmers Market due to the pandemic, FHGT organized a site in MacDonald Park where we were seeing 300 people/week and collecting four large containers of food scraps” said Mark Laster, FHGT Co- Chair.

“When they reopened the Farmer’s Market site last December, we reached out to Queens Botanical Gardens and Commonpoint Queens to open this new site in order to allow easier access for people who live on the other (north) side of Queens Boulevard,” Laster added.

Residents will be able to come by the 108th Street site and drop off their food scraps to FHGT volunteers from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. starting Sunday, April 3. Anyone who comes to drop off their food scraps for opening day will get a free COVID test kit and a free bag of compost while supplies last.

The FHGT is a volunteer group that was established in 2018 and has revitalized and helped start gardens at Metropolitan Expeditionary Learning School and Forest Hills High School. It has also developed a community beautification project at the LIRR overpass on Yellowstone Boulevard.

Danielle Ellman, Commonpoint Queens CEO, said the nonprofit is “thrilled to partner with the Queens Botanical Garden and the FHGT to host a compost drop-off. Caring for our environment is a big priority for us and an initiative that our entire community can come together for.”