Veggie Nuggets: fighting for compost education
The Veggie Nuggets, a 2024 Street Work Earth participant, is a youth climate action group based in New York City. They’ve worked on multiple projects, including helping to stop the NRG Astoria power plant, creating a public garden in Jackson Heights with JHBG under the Brooklyn Queens Expressway, and fighting to save and raise awareness about New York composting.
Raising awareness about composting
New York began rolling out curbside composting in 2022-3 in a pilot program in certain boroughs. But if you build it they won't just come! To get out the word, the city relies on community partners, who are critical to the program's success. In the early half of 2024 Mayor Eric Adams drastically cut funding for these partners, sparking widespread community action. (MJN team members and Veggie Nuggets signed multiple petitions of support.) As of July 2024, the budget was restored.
The Veggie Nuggets work closely with JH Scraps, the local composting site in Jackson Heights, to raise awareness about composting in NYC. Check out their PSA below.
Queens World Film Festival
On May 26, 2022 Queens World Film Festival met with the Nuggets to hear their thoughts on HOPE. Director and Cinematography: Donald Preston Cato; Production Manager: Katha Cato
Composting resources
What exactly is composting, and why is it so important? Check out these resources to go deeper and let us know if you have ideas for other resources we should share. (Example: we're thinking about food waste!)
