Previous Pocket Park Clean Up at 1970 Waldeck Ave. Credit: Courtesy of Nora Gerber.
The University District Organization will host its All Hallows’ Green Work Day on Monday to prepare the Foster Community Pocket Park for winter.?
The event will run from 4 to 7 p.m. at 1970 Waldeck Ave. Volunteers will get park benches ready for painting, weed flower beds and tend to the landscape. Attendees can also learn about composting, receive free tabletop compost bins to take home and get a free pizza slice from Honey Boy Pizzeria, said Nora Gerber, executive director of the University District Organization.
The work day is part of the organization’s broader effort to promote composting and reduce food waste in the University District. Gerber said diverting food scraps from landfills can help reduce excess trash while turning the leftovers into compost that enriches soil.
Volunteers will focus on maintaining the pocket park, which was designed in 2024. The park gives residents a place to relax, connect with neighbors and take part in caring for the neighborhood, Gerber said.
Pocket parks are small, open spaces in urban areas that provide a safe and inviting environment to community members, per prior Lantern reporting.
“Knowing and feeling pride that we’re able to help make our neighborhoods cleaner, more sustainable, more green — for me, that always makes me feel like, ‘This is nice. We’re gonna improve our little section of the city,’” Gerber said.
The event is being held in partnership with the Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio — SWACO —? which will share information about composting and the food waste drop-off shed at Indianola Presbyterian Church.?
The partnership aims to help residents reduce food waste and keep compostable materials out of landfills, Tyler Lowry, senior communications administrator at SWACO, said.
Gerber said the event is intended to go beyond park maintenance and encourage sustainable practices throughout the neighborhood.
The shed collects an average of 633 pounds of food waste each month, which is eventually composted and returned to community gardens to grow wildflowers and vegetables, Lowry said.?
“We got a grant with Ohio State and a design class took on this project,” Gerber said. “They did a lot of research and designed it, and then built it, and then painted it, and now it’s here and it is very colorful.”
The drop-off program offers residents, especially students, who may not have the space or time to compost at home a way to divert food scraps from landfills.
“If you live in an apartment, like many of the folks around Ohio State’s campus, or maybe you live in a house, but it’s not your house, this sort of drop-off model is a great option,” Lowry said.?
The shed is open to the public, and residents do not have to be members of Indianola Presbyterian Church to drop off food scraps, Lowry said.
The food waste drop-off program and the pocket park cleanup give residents different ways to care for the University District. Gerber said she hopes the work day inspires residents to carry that mindset into their everyday lives.
“One food scrap or one recycling or one pocket park cleanup at a time,” Gerber said.
