Photo by Christine Barnes Sarah Kennedy, Michael and Brenda Tisdale are helping to recycle Vermont at the Northfield recycling center. How much waste disposal 'capacity' really exists?

The earth is at our disposal, according to some waste industry representatives, who contend that landfills and incinerators can be built almost anywhere.

From "Waste and Recycling: Data, Maps and Graphs"

I love a parade. Especially when it's at the Northfield Recycling Depot. At 7:45 am on a Saturday in early May, there's already a line of cars. No one comp lains. When the gates open, we all pile out and the empty steel monster vats begin to thunder with the cacophony of jars, cans, and other recycle materials as we dump. "That's the sound I love to hear," says one enthusiastic recycle devotee.

Attendant Michael Tisdale stands watch, ready to lend a hand. He has worked at the Northfield site since his junior year in high school. He took the job in 2001. "I wanted to help the environment, and this job was available," he said.

Christine Barnes is a Northfield resident. It's a family affair. Impeccably mannered with all comers, and bearing a resemblance to actress Tyne Daly in presence, stature and voice, Michael's mother Brenda Tisdale agrees that the job not only helps pay the bills, but is constructive work which helps the planet. Both are Northfield residents, and "very devoted staff members," says Mia Roethelein, Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District's (CVSWMD) Field Programs Coordinator (www.cvswmd.org).

The recycle center in Northfield has been run by CVSWMD since 1991, originally out of a truck trailer, and staffed by volunteers. Today, the Tisdales and Dick Smeyers work the shifts. The center is open to residents from 22 towns, but primary participants are from Roxbury, Berlin, Williamstown and Northfield. Approximately $18,000, a per capita assessment to the town of Northfield, goes to CVSWMD and "provides sufficient funding to pay for the minimum requirements set by the state of Vermont for solid waste management."

On this rainy Saturday afternoon in late May, John Allen drives up in his pick-up truck. He and Michael unload a lawn mower from which he has removed the carburetor. No oil, no gas. John knows the rules: he is one of the original volunteers who worked at the recycle center when it first began. The former Norwich professor says with a twinkle, "Don Wallace, who also taught at Norwich, started this whole thing, and roped the other teachers into running it!"

The present facility was built in 1998, and Brenda has worked here ever since. She notes the changes she sees as positive: "On a weekend, we always filled two trash dumpsters. The good news is, now we sometimes fill two 'co-mingles' and one cardboard dumpster as well. That means that a lot of the recycle is getting diverted from the landfill." A lot, indeed. Recycled in 2004: 221 tons. Recycled in 2008: 273 tons. Trash disposed of in 2004: 276 tons. In 2008: 413 tons.

This center takes everything except hazardous waste. When the hazardous waste collection unit comes into the area, the center passes out fliers to customers alerting them. "All that hazardous waste used to just go right into the trash," says Brenda. That's progress.

Up comes a shiny little black car, and out pops Sarah Kennedy, sporting a T-shirt for the fundraising walk she just completed. She unloads a bag of trash, then reaches into the trunk for her recycle bin. The balanced age-distribution among the recyclers is notable. College students, Senior Citizens, and everyone in between have been part of the afternoon's parade. Sarah is beaming: she just completed her junior year in nursing school. Congratulations all around.

When things slow down a little, Brenda points out another of the recycle center's programs: townspeople can take their drink cans to the center and donate them to a fund for programs such as the Make a Wish Foundation or Camp Ta Kum Ta. Each year, the center features a different cause. This year, the fund is available to help area business organizations develop projects to reduce waste, and to "build the infrastructure to move the region toward Zero Waste."

Zero Waste "is the recycling of all materials back into nature or the marketplace in a manner that protects human health and the environment." The Zero Waste America website yields interesting statistics, some shocking, some discouraging, some encouraging. First, general oversight responsibility of the country's waste disposal falls in the hands of the EPA, whose priority clearly is elsewhere. Second, according to "Biocycle", the New England region of the country recycles 29% of its waste and incinerates/landfills 73%, compared to the Rocky Mountain region which recycles 9% and puts 91% into the incinerator/landfill (other regions fall somewhere in between). Third, the encouraging news is that recycling in Vermont isn't news.

Some things to think about:

From Brenda: People need to remember that while we're happy to have their recycle materials, what helps pay for the facility is the trash they bring along with it.

From Mia: It is important to compost. Keeping food waste out of the landfill is a huge step toward Zero Waste.

From Michael: There must be an emphasis on how this scenario can affect you personally.

Bingo. Easier said than done, but recycling is about realizing we all are going to be affected personally if we don't do this and help take better care of the planet.

Planet Earth is not our landfill. It is our home, and it's very personal. It is not at our disposal: we are its keepers. In Vermont, we've been paying attention to waste disposal for a while, but we have a long way to go: 29% isn't good enough. But with people like Don Wallace, John Allen, Dick Smeyers, Mia Roethelein, Sarah Kennedy, Brenda Tisdale and Michael Tisdale, there's heart, and there's hope.