Community composting is an essential part of what we do at ECI. It’s one more way we show our commitment to help improve our local environment one shovelful of organic compost at a time. 
 

In 2025, we produced more than 7,000 pounds of organic compost – Southampton Black Gold is what we call it -- most of which was fed directly back into the soil of the Heritage Garden.   The rest was distributed among the 50 households from which we collect food scraps where it ended up nourishing even more local soil.  So first and foremost, our community composting program serves to enrich and enhance our local earth.
  

Composting has other environmental benefits as well.  To make our compost, we collected over 14,000 pounds of food scraps from local households and businesses last year, all of which was diverted from the Brookhaven landfill or Babylon trash incinerator, which means less methane and a reduction of several thousand pounds of greenhouse gas production. 

 

In addition to our own composting program, ECI is working to expand composting more broadly throughout the Town of Southampton. Our lobbying efforts were instrumental in getting the Town to start collecting food scraps at all four of its transfer stations.  We have partnered with Rooted Hospitality Group to collect food scraps from one local restaurant (Rumba) and in 2026 we hope to extend this program to more restaurants and local businesses.   

 

Good Ground was the original name settlers gave to Hampton Bays due to the richness of the local soil.  Through our community composting program, we are determined to help revive and restore our local soil so the town once again will live up to its original name.

 

Sign up here to join our community compost program.