Guerrilla compost bins disguised as newspaper boxes hit the streets of NYC

Master composter and graphic designer Debbie Ullman is concerned about the amount of organic food waste that New Yorkers throw out each day. The former newspaper designer decided to take matters into her own hands to get more people <a href="http://inhabitat.com/nyc/recycling-and-composting/" target="_blank">composting</a> by creating the <a href="http://www.nycompostbox.com" target="_blank">New York Compost Box Project</a>. The unique urban intervention repurposes newspaper boxes around the city as guerrilla compost drop-off sites.

According to the NYC Department of Sanitation, almost a third of New Yorkers' trash is comprised of organic waste, meaning food scraps, spoiled food, food-soiled paper, and yard trimmings and plants.

As we know, this type of waste adds to the amount of greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere, essentially polluting our air.

When organic waste is composted, it's converted into nutrient-rich additive that can be used in many ways, including city gardens.

Although the DSNY does have an Organics Collection program that aims to divert the city's food waste from landfills, but at the moment, it is a pilot system with few routes.

Thanks to Ullman's New York Compost Box Project, busy residents can recycle their food waste on their own schedules, in one of the Compost Box Project’s repurposed newspaper boxes.

So far, Ullman has only placed three compost boxes around the city, but hopes to see the project grow in the future.