Big Reuse

Brooklyn's Big Reuse Opens New Center in Bushwick Big Reuse debuts its Bushwick Reuse Center, offering secondhand clothing and home goods while deepening local sustainability efforts.

Thank you BK Reader for covering the opening of our Bushwick Reuse Center!

www.bkreader.com/non-profit-c...

As we keep working to complete sections of the store & fully fill up our racks & shelves (especially our bookshelves!) over the coming weeks, you'll continue to see more inventory and changes. We hope you'll enjoy stopping by & seeing our progress, as well as finding new items to love & repurpose.

Operating hours of the new store will be 11AM-7PM daily for both shopping and donation. We're located at 378 Troutman Street, accessible by the Jefferson Avenue L train stop and the B38 bus stop at DeKalb Avenue/Irving Avenue.

We're thrilled to announce that our Bushwick Reuse Center is officially opening this Thursday, February 12! We'll still be dotting our i's and crossing a few t's, but we're ready to welcome you into the space we've been working so hard to build.

Our February 14 Street Tree Care event at 2nd Avenue Greenway has been postponed to March 7! RSVPs for the rescheduled date, along with two other opportunities to care for street trees at 2nd Ave Greenway on February 21 & 28, are open at lnk.bio/stcnyc 🌳

Thanks to Council Member Jen Gutierrez for representing Bushwick and voting to fund community composting, and thanks to New York City Council for supporting community composting for FY26!

With the cubes, El Garden’s operation is scaling up! If you live close by, spread the word and lookout for upcoming workdays. This Spring, Big Reuse will be co-hosting community composting volunteer days at El Garden, every 3rd Friday 10AM-12PM.

Made a big composter pile at El Garden in Bushwick this past Friday just before the weekend’s big freeze. Jenny & Annie, El Garden’s community compost leads & Master Composters, showed us how they’re using their new extra large aluminum community compost cubes!

With inclement frigid weather and L train service changes this Saturday, January 24, we are postponing the opening party of our new Bushwick Reuse Center to Saturday, February 28, 6PM-8PM. Stay tuned for a new invitation and updated RSVP link. Thanks for understanding and stay warm this weekend!

Use this site to compost your:
🍌🥕 Fruit & Vegetable Scraps
🍂🌱 Yard & Plant Waste
☕📜 Coffee grounds, Tea leaves, & Brown Paper

New year, new compost site! Our amazing team has set up a Food Scrap Drop-Off site at The Salt Lot in Gowanus. Green bins will be available at 22 2nd Avenue Monday-Friday, 10AM-4PM. (These hours are subject to change—if the bins aren't out, we ask that you don't leave your scraps on the sidewalk!)

While the future of state and federal funding for environmental programs remains uncertain, we're grateful to our community for seeing the value in community-based land-stewardship and environmental education.

Stay tuned for upcoming projects, and support Big Reuse at bigreuse.org/donate.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our End-of-Year Fundraising Campaign! We raised a total of $48,883.88, which will be used to reach more NYC neighborhoods with environmental education, community composting, tree care, and reuse in 2026.

Can’t make it to Mulchfest? Christmas trees can also be placed on the curb on your regular composting collection day 🎄✨

We hate to see beautiful Christmas trees kicked to the curb! Luckily, you can make sure your evergreens give evergreen care back to our soil by bringing your tree to Mulchfest through January 11! Find a Mulchfest location near you on the NYC Parks website.

www.nycgovparks.org/highlights/f...

Our 2025 map of community work shows every tree care event, volunteer compost site, food scrap drop-off site, bin installation, curbside compost outreach event, and tree guard installation across the city! Help Big Reuse make a big local impact in the new year—donate today at bigreuse.org/donate.

This Giving Tuesday, you can give TWICE as Big for New York City! Thanks to the generosity of our Board of Trustees, all contributions made from today until December 8 will be matched up to $5,000. Donate today at bigreuse.org/donate.

From Feast to Future: Composting Your Food Scraps Composting in New York City is easier than ever, no matter where you live. Whether you’re in an apartment, a house, or somewhere in between, there are many options to give your food scraps a second li...

Planning to compost your post-holiday meal scraps in NYC? Our NYSDERA Fellow Tatiana Guerra put together a guide on where and what to compost the leftovers from your table! 🍗🥗🥕🧄

Read more: bigreuse.org/blogs/news/f...

We need your help to provide the support and resources that New Yorkers deserve. With federal, state, and city funding uncertainties, Big Reuse relies on support from people like you who understand the value in local environmental and community-based work. Donate today: bigreuse.org/donate.

Give BIG for NYC by supporting our End-of-Year Fundraising Campaign! Support Big Reuse to continue to bring composting, tree care, reuse, education, outreach, and community to our amazing city. Donate today at bigreuse.org/donate.

Brooklyn College Partners With Local Groups to Grow a Greener Campus - Brooklyn College Alumni-led initiatives and community collaborations bring composting and tree care to the forefront.

Thank you to @brooklyncollege.bsky.social's BC Brief for covering our recent projects with students! Learn more about a recently installed composting system & our tree guard collaboration w/ the Office of Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability & TREEage 🌳

www.brooklyn.edu/bc-brief/bro...

“For far too long, Astoria has been labeled Asthma Alley and held the distinction of having the worst air quality in all of Queens. ...this partnership offers us a glimpse of a future built around renewable energy generation,” said Mamdani. Looking forward this next chapter for our city! 🌳 🍎

Zohran Mamdani and staff from Big Reuse and Rise gather in front of their freshly-planted tree in Astoria.

✨ Congratulations to NYC's Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani on a historic win! As Assembly Member for District 36, Mamdani supported our 2024 partnership with Rise Light & Power to plant street trees and transform the tree pits in Queens, helping offset pollution from power plants & improving air quality.

Visit our table in front of our new location at the last weekend of Troutman Open Streets this Sunday, October 26! Staff will be collecting used clothing, selling secondhand Halloween costumes, and providing curbside composting resources.

📣 We're excited to announce Big Reuse will be opening a new Reuse Center (thrift store) in Bushwick, near the Jefferson L train station! We still have a bunch of work to do but aim to be open by December. Stay tuned!

Compost Volunteer Day With JH Scraps & Big Reuse! Join us for a day of sifting, turning, and breaking down food scraps!

SAT, OCT 25: Help Big Reuse & JH SCRAPS make green spaces in Jackson Heights more resilient! Volunteers will sift, turn, & break down food scraps. Your hard work ultimately results in finished compost that goes back into public spaces in the neighborhood ✨

www.eventbrite.com/e/compost-vo...

Also please join us Sun, Oct 19th at 10am for our next street tree care event! Learn about and care for Bushwick street trees.
*Meet at 121 Starr Street.
*All supplies provided
*Registration: www.eventbrite.com/e/street-tre...
Thanks to our partners! @cmjengutierrez.bsky.social @bigreuse.bsky.social

@cmshahanahanif.bsky.social cmrestler.bsky.social

Learn more about composting and how to participate in the Department of Sanitation’s mandatory curbside composting program.

Receive a free 1-gallon kitchen container and bin decal while supplies last from Big Reuse!

We can’t wait to meet you and talk curbside composting with you.

Join the Save our Compost Press Rally on Tuesday 3/25 at 10:30am on NY City Hall steps. This will coincide with DSNY’s testimony and lead up to public testimony, which begins at 11 am.

Thank you for your support, we hope to see you there!