North Canaan Transfer Station revamps services, appearance

NORTH CANAAN — Since the new town administration entered office in November 2023, the Transfer Station has seen a complete overhaul.

All areas of waste management have been reimagined with residents in mind. The main goal of First Selectman Brian Ohler was to improve the station’s operations by “keeping it clean, efficient and welcoming” to achieve both a “visual and tangible result.”

To start, the appearance of the area welcomes townspeople with the vibrant 40-foot-long mural painted on an original shipping container. Local artist Cheri Johnson is a town resident who also produced the Steve Blass Field dugout art. Without any guidelines to direct the inspiration, Cheri envisioned and portrayed all of her unique inspiration to create the evolution of plastics to greenery. From left to right, the mural begins with images of plastic bottles and waste, depicts the process of recycling, and ultimately shows all the beautiful nature, plants, and butterflies that are here when we keep the planet green.

The efficiency of operations has been improved for residents with a straightforward one-way loop and stopping points for trash and recycling drop offs.

Waste bins have been reworked too. This change was designed to make the bins more weather resistant; when the stormwater collects in the bins, the town is required to pay for the weight that accumulates. As a solution, the waste bins are now covered with tarps at night. The result for the town has been thousands of dollars saved in the first half of the year.

The Transfer Station garage is now home to a swap shop.Kayla Jacquier

The Transfer Station is embracing a “revolving door” of reusing items, as First Selectman Brian Ohler stated, by incorporating the empty area in the two-bay garage out front and turning it into a swap shop. This is a way to allow others to find hidden treasures while saving themselves money and minimizing the items thrown into the waste bin, adding weight.

Finally, the last change for the town relates to brush chipping, which is no longer offered. Although the town crew will continue to clean up the local land after harsh weather, chipping is a highly unsafe task. The transfer station has taken safety measures by discontinuing chipping, but will still collect any brush free of charge as a solution to disposal.

This coming fall, North Canaan will start the compost program where authorized food waste and brush will be turned into compost products. The ability to produce an aggregate from disregarded products that would otherwise be considered trash is rewarding for the town. With their paid stickers, community members will then be able to bring home the compost and keep the environment clean in a greater way than before.

While panning the view of the updated transfer station, Ohler remarked, “It’s so nice to go to the dump and it’s not a dump anymore.”