Brown is the New Green

Dog Waste Composting Initiative

Every year more than two million dogs in New York City’s five boroughs produce over 275,000 tons of dog waste. While the “pooper scooper” law passed by the City Council in 1978 requires New Yorkers to clean up after their pets, dog waste, which contains harmful pathogens, is still either landfilled or shipped out of state at considerable expense.

Citizens Committee for New York City believes dog waste composting is the next frontier in urban composting, and we will serve as the catalyst to make this proposal sustainable over the next year. 

We are bringing together a working group of composting and dog run advocates, and will commit $10,000 in grant awards to these groups developing innovative ways to compost dog waste in the city's more than four hundred neighborhoods.

For more information and to get involved, contact Saleen at sshah@citizensnyc.org / 212-822-9566.