Compost Giveaway In Sleepy Hollow, Tarrytown

SLEEPY HOLLOW, NY — The village of Sleepy Hollow will be giving away compost generated by the Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow food scrap recycling programs.

The giveaway will take place, rain or shine, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday at the John Paulding School parking lot, 154 N. Broadway in Tarrytown.

The Sleepy Hollow Environmental Advisory Committee, Climate Smart Communities and Tarrytown Environmental Advisory Council said the public is encouraged to bring up to two large bins and have them filled with compost that has been produced by the villages’ food scrap recycling programs.

Organizers said residents have been sending their organic waste to the compost instead of the trash incinerator and they can reap the benefit of the nutrient-dense compost that has been produced and use it in their home gardens.

Sleepy Hollow Mayor Martin Rutyna said he was looking forward to picking up his two buckets of compost.

“Separating out food waste helps reduce the amount of waste we send to the incinerator in Peekskill,” he said. “It also makes us consider our daily impact on the environment as individuals, families and as a community.”

During the event, organizers said, there will be learning stations that will tell people about the environmental benefits of composting, the campus composting project that has kicked off in the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns and the efforts going on in the two villages.

John Paulding Principal Maureen Barnett said the composting program at the elementary school is already making a big difference and the district hopes to expand it to all the other schools.

“Our littlest Horsemen are really into the idea of reducing waste in their cafeteria and classrooms,” she said. “It’s important to teach children how to be environmentally friendly from a young age.”

Westchester County Executive George Latimer is expected to attend and present remarks, as is Rutyna. There will also be a share table for seeds and plants that will allow residents who don’t have a garden at home to take advantage of the free compost and go home with something to grow.