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De Blasio's New Sanitation Commisioner Is Really Into Composting
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 15, 2014
Modified Mar 15, 2014
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Tien Mao/Gothamist
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Mar 15, 2014
Modified Mar 15, 2014
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Mayor de Blasio continued his slow rollout of appointments today by introducing new Department of Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia. And as the city's current Chief Operating Officer of the Department of Environmental Protection, Garcia's already prepared to get the borough composting their old foodstuffs, calling for a plan that will require New Yorkers to start disposing of organic food waste separately. Bins at the ready, kids!
The composting plan is nothing new—Mayor Bloomberg had already begun crafting a city composting plan before leaving office, and Garcia wants to expand that program. Right now, only a few neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Staten Island participate, and Garcia hopes to have the whole city involved in under five years. "Cities around the country, I think San Francisco and Portland, Oregon are already well down the road in this process so we have great examples that we can learn from," de Blasio said today, noting that taxpayers will likely save a lot of money down the road.
The city has a number of resources set up to help New Yorkers properly dispose of organic waste, and a number of restaurants have already started composting.
Garcia replaces outgoing Sanitation Commissioner John Doherty, and will start on April 1, giving us plenty of time not to hate her before it starts snowing again.
Tagged
composting
department of sanitation
kathryn garcia
Rebecca Fishbein
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