Compost Program:

Open Road's Compost Program develops on site composting systems with public schools and other institutions in NYC. We train schools, local development corporations, small businesses, community gardens, and other partners in the development and operation of the systems, and provide support until local groups can run the systems independently.

     Current Composting Sites:
     City As School High School, Manhattan
     JFK High School, Bronx
     Lower East Side Garden, Manhattan
     Project Roots/Intermediate School 318, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
     Greater Jamaica Development Corporation's Food Court, Queens (with City Green)
     Cornell Coop Extension/New York City Housing Authority, Forest Houses, Bronx
     Jes' Good Rewards Community Garden, Brownsville, Brooklyn
     Garden of Union, Park Slope, Brooklyn

In addition to providing commercially available composting systems and training local groups in their use, Open Road has developed and patented a low technology system, the Hot Box, in partnership with East Side Community High School and Project Roots/Intermediate School 318. The Hot Box is appropriate for urban composting, and has been installed in a wide variety of locations city wide. These include LES Garden, the Project Roots/IS 318 Garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Cathedral School at St. John the Divine, Greater Jamaica Development Corporation's Food Court in Queens, and Sahara East Restaurant in Manhattan. A license to construct the Hot Box is available free to non-profit and educational organizations.

Open Road and the Hot Box Compost System has been featured in several publications including, Biocycle and Resource Recycling magazines.
  • To see a sample of a compost bin analysis featuring the Hot Box design, click here.
  • To see images of the first steps to building a Hot Box, click here.