"BK ROT is New York City's first community-supported, bike-powered, fossil fuel free food waste hauling and composting service. Their project is staffed by young people of color who haul residential and commercial organic waste and transform it into high quality compost. Their operations provide accessible jobs and sustained professional development for emerging environmental leaders. They are designing and implementing a new kind of waste system, one that uses food waste as the foundation for a healthy urban ecosystem, that uplifts the people and places responsible for managing waste, and that demonstrates the power of a regenerative green economy. They are supporting the next generation of environmental and climate justice leaders who will shape our city." Follow and support BKROT: Web: https://www.bkrot.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bk_rot/ @bk_rot Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BKROTCompost/ Thank you to Guerrilla Foundation for funding this video of solutions. http://guerillafoundation.org/​ Co-produced by Jasmine Hayden, Robin Greenfield and Jameson Johnson. Filmed by Jasmine Hayden: https://www.instagram.com/herewegrow.productions @herewegrow.productions Edited by Jameson Johnson. Robin Greenfield is an activist and humanitarian dedicated to leading the way to a more sustainable, equitable and just world. His activism and life choices create critical thought on global social and environmental issues and inspire positive change in humanity. Through a decade of activism and service he has become an internationally recognized leader. His lifework has been covered by media worldwide including National Geographic and he’s been named “The Robin Hood of modern times” by France 2 TV. Robin's life is an embodiment of Gandhi’s philosophy, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” He donates 100% of his media earnings to grassroots nonprofits. He has committed to living simply and responsibly for life. This YouTube channel is a source to educate, inspire and support others to live more sustainable, equitable and just lives. Videos frequently cover sustainable living, simple living, growing your own food, gardening, minimalism, off the grid living, zero waste, living in a tiny house, food sovereignty and community resilience and self-sufficiency. http://www.robingreenfield.org Find Robin Greenfield on: Website: https://www.robingreenfield.org Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/RobJGreenfield @RobJGreenfield Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RobGreenfield  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/RobGreenfield Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobJGreenfield @RobJGreenfield  Robin Greenfield’s work is Creative Commons and this content is free to be republished and redistributed, following the terms of the creative commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 license. Learn about Creative Commons and see the guidelines here: http://www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

Meet the Brooklyn teenagers using food scraps to give back to their community. The teens are employees at BK ROT, a composting service in North Brooklyn, New York. The company, which aims to provide compost in order for people to grow fresh produce and to process some of New York’s waste, provides job opportunities to local teens in an are known for high youth unemployment. The teens are split into two teams: bikers and composters. The bikers go around the city picking up organic waste, while the composters process that waste to package and sell. That compost is sold in stores for $7 a bag. BK ROT processes up to 15,000 pounds of food waste a month, a point of pride for its employees. The teens say they’re thankful to have a job that teaches them self-accountability, and that they’re inspired by their work at a company that values environmental responsibility. Who knew a few bikes and some trash could have such an impact? Subscribe to Vocativ: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=vocativvideo Find us everywhere else: Subscribe to the newsletter: http://www.vocativ.com/pages/newsletter/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vocativ Twitter: https://twitter.com/vocativ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vocativ/ Snapchat: http://www.snapchat.com/add/vocativ Website: http://www.vocativ.com

BK ROT is a composting service and youth employment project in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Each week, youth workers pick up food scraps on bike from households and businesses, and turn them into compost that will get sold or donated to local gardening and urban agriculture projects. Since Spring of 2016, all of their bikers have sported Nutcase Helmets whenever they’re out on the road. When Sandy Nurse came up with the idea for BK ROT in 2011, she wanted to address two big issues: one was the need for composting infrastructure that could allow urban dwellers to do something productive with their food scraps while keeping them local. The other was the need for good jobs for Black and Brown youth, working class youth, and immigrant youth in the growing green economy of New York City. Sandy explains that BK ROT is “trying to find ways to put value on the ecological work that needs to happen in Bushwick, and to create opportunities for the people who don’t get to get that kind of work or who are usually less considered for it.” BK ROT is building a new kind of recycling system, one that doesn’t just turn trash into value: it turns trash into good jobs, green space, and community. Alongside co-facilitator Renee Peperone, Sandy helps to coordinate the week-to-week activities of BK ROT. But most of the work is done by the project’s youth, who communicate with customers, manage payments, pick up food scraps, turn them into compost, distribute finished product, and represent the project at public events. The youth aren’t just hauling waste, they are becoming experts at running a compost system, and it shows when you talk to them: they know what’s going on at the microbial level in a compost pile, how to tell if a pile needs more browns or more water, when the compost is ready to sift and sell. As BK ROT has grown (we now compost 4300 pounds of organic material every month!) the youth workers have spent more of their time on bike, collecting food scraps from our expanding customer base. This means bike safety has become more important than ever for BK ROT, and the helmets donated by Nutcase keep our riders safe and visible as they navigate the streets of Bushwick and Bed-Stuy. With help from Nutcase and other generous donors, BK ROT has been able to grow and implement a project that keeps food scraps local and creates good jobs for youth. If you’d like to get involved in BK ROT, or to become a member, please visit bkrot.org, or follow them on Instagram (@bk_rot) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BKROTS).

7,000 lbs of locally captured food waste was turned into compost. We then delivered it to the Good Life Garden in Bushwick, Brooklyn where it will cure as a windrow over the winter and be ready for use in February for germinating seeds and activating dormant grow beds.