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Rain early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low 53F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Rain early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low 53F. Winds WSW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.

In response to the commentary by Polly Jones (“Know where your garbage goes?” Oct. 21), I can say I know where at least some of it goes. One fall day, I visited with State Rep. Jim Harrison at his “Dump & Donuts” campaign appearance at the Killington transfer station. Harrison’s table was near the entrance of the small yard. As we stood chatting, vehicles were arriving (pickups, a family van, cargo trailers) stacked to the gills with furniture (a dining table, upholstered chairs, patio furniture, complete bed sets. As a sometime dumpster-diver, I thought, “Hey! I could use that!” Indeed, I could: Everything I saw was in perfectly usable condition. It was all being unloaded into a giant bunker and crushed.

I then learned it was “bulk” disposal day at the transfer station. Furnishings acquired for summer or second homes were no longer useful now the season of guests and outdoor living was ending. So out it went, lock, stock and barrel.

The irony is stunning. Every so often the alarm is sounded about Coventry being overloaded … and yet the tonnage and volume represented by furniture are not only staggering, but egregiously wasteful in a state that historically prides itself on “waste not, want not.”

Every transfer station I have ever utilized is picky about what is allowed and in what form. Yet entire sets of perfectly good furniture are finding their way into the landfill, unchallenged. Who is allowing this?

Here’s a suggestion: Just as property owners and households are required to recycle paper, plastics, glass, metals and even food scraps, let’s add usable household furnishings to the list. Why not make an arrangement with Goodwill, social service agencies like BROC, discount places like Cleveland Avenue, to receive these items for resale? A truck could be stationed at every transfer station on bulk drop-off day.

At the very least, every transfer station should offer a swap shop, as Bethel and Chittenden do, to the benefit of those of us who hate getting rid of perfectly good items we don’t want or need, and the even better benefit of local folks who do.

Julia Purdy lives in Rutland.

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