Youngsters take offense: A dump it isn't

SALISBURY — It’s the one place almost everyone in the town visits regularly. But most people don’t know that much about it. And it’s the very embodiment of the phrase "Think globally, act locally."

So it seemed natural that students in Jenny Law’s fourth-grade language arts enrichment class would want to learn more about the Salisbury-Sharon transfer station after completing a school unit called "Earth Patrol."

Each student in Law’s class at Salisbury Central School read a nonfiction book on topics ranging from global warming to air pollution. The students learned a lot but their responses were not exactly uplifting, according to Law.

"They were eager to see what was happening locally," said Law, who has taught the course for four years.

So the class decided by mutual agreement that it would look into "green" activity closer to home. Someone suggested they take a tour of the transfer station. So they arranged a time to meet with transfer station Manager Larry Beck. They took notes and asked lots of questions.

"That was very inspiring," added Law. "They were very excited after that tour, but they were incensed that people were throwing so many things away."

The students began lobbying to get the whole town to tour the facility, but when that idea was deemed impractical, the concept of publishing a book on the experience was born. The students began gathering data, taking photographs and drawing maps. The result was entitled "It’s Not A Dump!!! A Transfer Station In Action."

In addition to pages of information on correct recycling practices, there are separate sections on such topics as the disposal of construction and demolition waste, batteries, computers and electronics, metal, tires, paper, clothing, paint and waste oil.

The students urged readers to "Remember Your 3 Rs" — reduce, reuse and recycle. The second R (reuse) focuses on the beloved Swap Shop, that section of the transfer station devoted to pre-owned items in good condition that anyone can haul away for reuse.

The students also emphasized that in addition to being "green," recycling saves money. Municipal solid waste (MSW — otherwise known as the stuff in the big garbage hopper next to the transfer station office) must be hauled in large town-owned trucks to Hartford, where it is incinerated. However, those trucks now use biodiesel fuels — a mixture of 80 percent diesel and 20 percent corn oil. And the town uses waste oil to heat the station’s buildings

In 2005, the town collected 4,100 tons of MSW and paid about $286,000 to dispose of it. It doesn’t cost the town anything to recycle paper but by doing it, according to the students, 13,860 trees are saved. Other recyclables, such as clothing, actually generate a profit of $20 per ton. Still others are a net loss for the town. It costs $2, for example, to drop off a can of paint but the station pays $3.50 to have it taken away.

The booklet is also timely, as the current station is too small to develop a composting program for food scraps, which is heavy and expensive to dispose of as MSW. The proposed new transfer station site will have adequate room for composting and a variety of other initiatives such as dealing with the disposal of leaves on-site rather than hauling them away to Sheffield, Mass.

A donation from The Salisbury Land Trust paid for most of the printing of the booklet. The reaction has been very positive. About 350 copies were printed and distributed to Salisbury Central School parents and town officials. Earlier this year, the students attended a meeting of the Salisbury-Sharon Transfer Station and Recycling Advisory Committee and received accolades for their work.

Beck sent a copy of the booklet to the state Department of Environmental Protection, which will recognize the students with a Green Circle award to be given out tomorrow, June 15, at the school’s end-of-year assembly.

The students who produced the book were Sam Bradway, Carly Craig, Taylor Dowd, Maggie Frankenbach, Christopher Kirby, Ismael Lake-Ginouves, James McNulty, Sarah Miller and Rebecca Rashkoff.

"They were so inspired by Larry," Law added. "I’ve done this unit for four years and this was the first time the kids didn’t want to let an idea go."