In 2025, Big Reuse celebrated 10 years of community-based environmental work. We’re taking this moment to look back at the amazing impact that volunteers, partners, donors, shoppers, composters, and supporters made possible across New York City in 2025. With their help, Big Reuse supported 128 neighborhoods through reuse, composting, street tree care, environmental education, and community stewardship. Read our full annual report here.
Growing Greener Neighborhoods
Street trees help keep our city healthy, and in 2025, thousands of New Yorkers helped take care of them. Big Reuse cared for 1,927 street trees, held 119 tree care events, worked with over 100 community organizations, and involved 2,013 volunteers, including 690 young people. The impact was more than just tree care. By working with schools and youth groups, young people got hands-on experience caring for their neighborhoods and learning about the environment. As Gil Lopez from Big Reuse’s Tree Team shared:
"Watching young people learn new skills and apply them immediately has been a true highlight. Their joy and confidence after building a tree guard is unforgettable."
Another participant, Joey, reflected on how the experience changed their perspective:
“Never before have I looked at street trees the way I do now. I now know how impactful they are in assisting our city’s older pipe systems and preventing floods.”
Building Community Through Composting
Big Reuse hosted 239 composting workshops and tabling events, organized 129 volunteer events, engaged 24,901 residents, and processed 157,270 pounds of food scraps locally. The team also installed 40 increased-capacity rat-proof compost systems at community gardens and urban farms throughout the five boroughs. These new compost systems help gardens process more material on-site and give neighbors more opportunities to learn, volunteer, and join composting programs. Yarnelle, Coordinator of the Brooklyn College Community Garden, described receiving one of the new compost systems:
“This is like Christmas. Our old wooden bins were falling apart, and we haven’t been able to compost properly for almost a year. These new ones are going to change everything.”
Big Reuse also continued our Master Composter Program, hosting 3 cohorts and giving residents hands-on experience in composting, soil health, advocacy, and community building. Spencer, a program graduate, shared:
“I truly enjoyed learning firsthand the importance of composting and its process… I plan to continue to attend sites available to continue learning about composting.”
Check our events calendar for upcoming composting events and other ways to volunteer, learn, and get involved with Big Reuse.
Keeping Materials in Use Through Reuse
Through our Reuse Center thrift stores, Big Reuse helped keep hundreds of thousands of usable items in circulation and out of landfills. In 2025 alone, the organization processed 158,742 home goods, 77,154 clothing items, 54,000 books, 10,859 pieces of furniture, and 5,270 building materials.
Along with collecting everyday donations, Big Reuse worked with local groups to host repair and upcycling workshops, donated materials to community groups in need, and held special collections for items like paint, corks, e-waste, and eclipse glasses. Visit our donation page where you can see the donation guidelines in English and Spanish at our Gowanus location and at our Bushwick location.
New Projects
We reached an exciting milestone by opening our new Bushwick Reuse Center thrift store (Located at 378 Troutman St, Brooklyn, NY 11237) in February 2026, making affordable secondhand goods and reuse opportunities available to even more New Yorkers. We recently completed our first full street tree planting season, thanks to a new Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) grant. This support will help plant 235 new trees and care for 3,000 street trees in disadvantaged communities in Brooklyn and Queens through summer 2027. We also opened two midscale composting sites:, a new site in Central Park in partnership with Central Park Conservancy and reopened our Salt Lot Composting Site in Gowanus. These efforts will offer more chances for education, volunteering, and community involvement.
Executive Director Justin Green stated in this year’s annual report that Big Reuse’s strength comes from the community that supports it. Whether you volunteer, compost, shop secondhand, donate materials, or care for local trees, every action helps make New York City greener, healthier, and stronger.
Thank you to everyone who made 2025 such a meaningful year. We look forward to growing this impact together!
Written by NYSERDA Fellow Tatiana Guerra