Archive: Around Town

Two weeks ago marked a milestone for the Tompkins County Solid Waste Department with the retirement of Linnet Short.  Short concluded a career with the Solid Waste department that spanned 23 years, three locations, and a lot of history.  She is responsible for educating thousands of local kids and adults on the benefits of reusing materials that can be reused, and recycling the rest.  Her lifelong fascination with the potential of reuse led to powerful and innovative programs that helped put Tompkins County in the forefront of recycling.

"My grandmother was a women that never threw away anything," Short recalls.  "She would save donut boxes, so when she made cookies she could put them in them to take home so the cookies weren't all smuched when you got them home.  She got me thinking that if you could reuse a donut box, how could you reuse a milk jug?  She showed me how she hung them around her garden to chase off wild animals.  I really liked what my grandmother was doing, and it grew from there.  When the opportunity arose to work here I just took it."

Short was visited by colleagues, friends, municipal officials, legislators, family, and friends on December 29th, the day before her last day at the Solid Waste Department.  They brough gifts and warm regard for a colleague that will clearly be missed.  Short started working for the County in the Comptroller's Office in the old court house.  She did health insurance benefits and collect taxes.  The Solid Waste job became available and she jumped at the chance.  She and Solid Waste Manager Barb Ecstrom hit it off and she was hired the next day.

She was assigned to do administrative work at a table in a little room above the public works garage.

"It was right over the highway department," she says.  "It was pretty fumey from the trucks.  We leased a trailer.  We hired Lee Cornell, who did a lot of the work for curbside recycling.  That came about in about 1988 or 1989.  From there we grew to about 32 people.  Things changed.  We were on the move for solid waste.  This building was built about 15 years ago and we came here."

Shortly after moving into the current office building Educator Lynn Leopold retired and Short was offered her position.  Leopold was a pioneer in the local recycling movement, and became a kind of mentor to Short.  Short began bringing her programs to local schools and businesses and giving tours of the new recycling facility next door to the new office building.

In 1996 Short heard Jill Buck speak at a conference.  Buck later wrote the Go Green Initiative which today is the largest environmental education program in the world.  Today the program is actively used in all 50 states and 38 other countries.  Short wanted to bring the initiative to Tompkins County.  Eckstrom told her to write up a plan.  The GREEN in Go Green is an acronym that stands for 'Generate Compost, Recycle, Educate, Evaluate, and National principals of responsible consumption

To date 30 of the 31 public schools in Tompkins County are Go Green schools as well as six of the private schools.  

"This year we taught to about 14,000 people in tours, green team meetings, events, presentations at the Rotary Club, Ithaca Downtown Business Women's group...  We talk about sustainability, green efforts, Go Green," Short says.  "My assistant, Stephanie Egan-Engels has helped me for the last four years.  She has been an asset to me."


Short has also been involved in innovative initiatives such as prom dress recycling and the Tompkins County America Recycles Day Fair.

"That was really big for a while," she says.  "We thought if we made people aware of all the different types of sustainability and green efforts in Tompkins County, wouldn't that be wonderful?  So we started an America Recycles Day.  It was kind of small the first year.  It was a little bigger the second year.  The third year it was absolutely huge.  We had, probably, close to 2,000 people visit us.  We had about 85 to 90 vendors there.  That was pretty awesome."

Two years ago it was cut back due to the cost.  With a narrower focus on recycling, it was moved to the recycling solid waste center.  Part of the event was to survey residents on how the Solid Waste Department can better help people.

Meanwhile the department started a 'Re-business' program, in which they offered waste assessments to local businesses.  The Chamber of commerce received the first assessment.

"Maybe they needed a recycling bin, or two recycling bins, or some posters or decals," she says.  "That's what the waste assessment is about, to take a look at what you're doing.  You might be doing a good job on 15 things, but let us help you with these other five things, and we're going to help you do a great job."

Out of that came an environmental purchasing procurement consortium that was named Finger Lakes Environmentally Preferred Procurement Consortium (FLEPPC).  Cornell University, Ithaca College, Cayuga Medical Center, Tompkins County all got together to buy items like recycled paper.  The economy of scale of bulk buying put recycled paper into the realm of competitive affordability.  Short says she things local schools will be joining the consortium soon.

When pressed to say what her favorite part of working at Solid Waste, Short doesn't hesitate to answer.  While saving the Earth may be a passion she is well aware of who must do it, and who it is being done for.

"All the people I've met through the different organizations, especially the ones that came today," she said as her retirement party began winding down.  "The people and the kids.  People are special to me.  I really believe we are put here on Earth to meet other people."

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