Andover Transfer Station

Our first experience at the Transfer Station was getting a lecture from the man at the desk, who's name sadly I can not recall. I'm pretty sure it was Pete, but I'm not too sure. For what I expected to be a long and boring talk, it was actually quite enjoyable. The office was quite nice, boasting candy, water jug, and a coffee machine. A cute touch to the decor of the office was the handmade "thank you" letters from local youth hanging on the wall. 

Despite its frigid conditions, the field trip to the dump was rewarding and fun as we got to dispose of our own trash that we have been holding onto for a week. If I were a (full) Andover resident, I would enjoy my trips to the dump. The freedom of seeing where your trash goes and knowing the steps of its life cycle after your use is satisfying. I can recall Jon Groth's thoughts while at the Station as this, "I don't think I've ever wanted to be at a cold, kinda rainy dump more in my life than right now. This is so awesome!" As a consumer of the dump, they get the liberty of and benefit of not paying for a container for their waste, as well as paying for fuel costs of the dumps retrieval vehicles. For the Transfer Station, they do not have to purchase and maintain a fleet of vehicles to pick up trash. They profit from both a one time fee and as you go addition fees, the dump gets a more specific and fair profit on the trash they are managing. Even though the Station seems to keep the environment in their mind when conducting business, there are still a few drawbacks. The burning of all those tons of plastic material, releasing harmful chemicals into our air and not continuing the cycle of those items, still negatively affects the environment. Additionally, all the residents dumping over their trash releases greenhouse gases by driving to the Station and back home. Perhaps the most creative aspect of the Transfer Station is the free shop in the central building. Clothing items and miscellaneous objects are displayed for people to look over and purchase. This a great idea to minimize additional items being disposed of, and provides families with free clothing options. I'm sure Alan has gotten some great pieces from that shop. The best thing about a gathering place in a small town like the Transfer Station, is that the locals who come and go, get to converse with their friends and catch up. Comparing the Andover Transfer Station's process to Proctor's process, the two are quite different. At the dump down the road, there are two contributions into the process, the individual and the dump itself. The resident collects their waste, drives down the road, and rids themselves of the trash from their possession. The dump then deals with it by either selling it, burning it, or getting rid of it themselves. At Proctor there are three contributors, the maintenance driver, the student, and the people who get paid to collect our waste. The student throws away their item in their bin, they take their full bags and places it in their dorm's dumpster. Then, twice a week, maintenance recovers the bags from the dumpster and puts it in the schools large dumpster to be moved to another location. Proctor pays another organization to dispose of its trash because the Transfer Station simply could not handle that much waste. I thought this was a fun and unique experience, unfortunately,  I have the difficult task of regurgitating the things I learned for said experience.