Presented by Saint Albans Museum this event is part of the series SAM Talks. These talks are free and open to the public. Be sure to check out the NWSWD Repair Café event just before the talk. Make a day of it and visit Downtown Saint Albans.
THE TALK
What happens to our trash after we toss it in the bin? Once it’s out of sight, it’s easy to stop thinking about it—but our discarded mail, diapers, and dirty cat food cans pass through many hands before their journey ends. In this talk, Ginger Nickerson shares stories and photographs from interviews she conducted in 2018 as part of an Archie Green Fellowship with the Library of Congress, spending a year interviewing and photographing 22 people working on the front lines of Vermont’s solid waste system—from garbage truck drivers and compost collectors to recycling center staff and e-waste workers. Join us for a behind-the-scenes look at the human side of our waste system, followed by a chance to share your own memories of how dealing with trash has changed over time.
The event organizers will email registered guests some ideas of stories to share with the larger group (for those moved to do so). This will be an open conversation, but here are a few ideas to get us started:
How did you parents or grandparents deal with trash when you were young?
Has your definition of what you consider to be “trash” changed over time?
What is your earliest memory of trash?
THE SPEAKER
Ginger Nickerson is an ecologist and oral historian with a PhD in Natural Resource Management from the University of Michigan. For more than 20 years, she has used oral history to help communities explore their relationships with the environment. Her work includes interviewing chicleros and mahogany cutters for a natural history museum in Belize, training teens to interview seniors about tourism in northern Maine, and documenting Vermont farmers’ efforts to save heirloom seeds. Since 2016, Ginger has worked with University of Vermont Extension, where she currently provides education on introduced forest pests.
Image: Composting at Hudak Family Farm.