Community gardens can be a great resource if you're looking to grow some delicious vegetables in the city. But many of them also provide an environmentally-sound way for New Yorkers to deal with food waste.

Composting diverts food waste from the landfill, and turns it into soil instead. And while the city is now rolling out a municipal program to make that happen, for many years that effort has been led locally by volunteers and nonprofits. Very often, that's taken place in community gardens. 

Domingo Morales is the founder of Compost Power, which builds compost sites around the city, especially in underserved communities. Gil Lopez is a compost educator with Big Reuse. They joined WNYC's Morning Edition host Michael Hill in the Hattie Carthan Community Garden in Bedford–Stuyvesant.

The Department of Sanitation did not respond to a request for comment.