Factory Tours
BK ROT
Amid the urban bustle of Bushwick, Brooklyn, a quiet revolution is underway. BK ROT, New York City’s first bike-powered food waste hauling and composting service, is challenging traditional waste management while empowering youth and uplifting communities. Co-Director Nora Tjossem (they/them) offers a unique insight into this grassroots movement, which has been redefining sustainability for over a decade.
Born out of necessity and driven by an environmental mission, BK ROT isn’t just about reducing waste—it’s about reclaiming autonomy in a city that often overlooks its most marginalized residents. “We are a micro hauler. When we say micro hauler, we mean, like, hyper-local,” Nora shares. For them, this distinction is critical. It’s about creating solutions within neighborhoods that need them the most and demonstrating a model that could be replicated, but scaled at a community level, not city-wide. “We don’t need a lot of space. We just need a big concrete pad and somewhere to store our tools.”
BK ROT generates revenue by turning that waste into nutrient-rich compost, which they affectionately call ‘black gold.’ The finished compost is carefully packaged and sold to local gardeners and plant enthusiasts. “It’s like this beautiful, dark, rich soil that plants absolutely thrive in,” says Nora. This helps support their operations and showcases the value of waste when it’s transformed and returned to the earth.
BK ROT started as a bike-powered food waste collection service and evolved into something more—a job creation program for young people, particularly youth of color from the Bushwick community. The organization offers them opportunities not only for employment but also for leadership and environmental stewardship. “We’re at a funny moment now,” Nora reflects, “because as we’re turning 10 years old, we’re realizing that a lot of our staff came in as youth and stuck around. We have really high staff retention.”
Currently, BK ROT employs 14 people, five of whom are micro haulers, with the rest covering roles from composting to administration. Most of the team is under 25, a testament to the group’s commitment to providing meaningful work for the city’s young people. The impact of this focus extends far beyond employment; it fosters leadership in communities that often bear the brunt of environmental neglect. Nora emphasizes the significance of their mission: “It matters that we have young people of color doing this work in a city that has a history of a waste system that’s really neglected a lot of immigrant communities, a lot of low-income communities.”
BK ROT’s work is part of a broader push to shift how we think about waste, and not just in the context of landfill diversion. Nora explains, “Compost should really be a very small funnel of what’s actually happening. Before you get there, food, ideally, would be locally produced and not overproduced. Then you need to get to, where can you rescue and distribute that food?” The organization is deeply connected to mutual aid networks and sees its role as part of a larger movement toward more sustainable, equitable food systems.
Yet, the current waste management system, even with its recent focus on composting, leaves much to be desired. While NYC’s mayoral administration has made composting part of the conversation, Nora points out that the city’s approach to waste management still largely benefits affluent areas while leaving low-income neighborhoods behind. “Where is waste a priority and where is it not?” Nora asks. “This is not equal across even the borough of Brooklyn, let alone across the five boroughs.”
For BK ROT, sustainability goes beyond collecting food waste; it’s about creating a regenerative economy—one that focuses on local solutions, green jobs, and community empowerment. Nora sees potential in transforming vacant lots and overlooked spaces into green infrastructure hubs, such as composting sites that can help address both environmental and social challenges in the city. “There are places in the world that are using compost in these long compost socks to absorb water and prevent flooding. We can restore soil health. We can prevent erosion,” they say, underscoring the larger role composting can play in urban resilience.
Despite challenges, the team is optimistic. BK ROT’s small but mighty approach is inspiring. “We’re a nonprofit, so we can combine philanthropic funding, but we really do need that revenue portion,” Nora says, urging people to invest in local solutions like theirs.
Nora concludes, “We’re part of this ecosystem, and we’re connected in all these ways, which is really what compost is all about. It’s connecting. It’s closing that loop, creating a regenerative economy rather than an extractive one.”
BK ROT exemplifies how small, localized efforts can create ripples of change. Their work not only addresses environmental issues but also serves as a model for a future where waste management is inclusive, sustainable, and deeply intertwined with community well-being. In a city often preoccupied with scale, BK ROT reminds us that sometimes, small is beautiful—and powerful.
To order your own compost and take your houseplants to the next level, head to the BK ROT website.