Saturday at the
Recycling Center -
Some Personal notes
By Penny Brooks
Every Saturday morning --whether rain, shine, sleet, or light snow--the big recycling bins are towed to the Elysian Fields Kroger parking lot. Sierra Club volunteers show up at 9:00, but the neighborhood residents have already started bringing their plastic and cardboard and tin cans and newspapers to put in the
dumpsters. The South N
ashville area is mixed in many ways: it is ethnically diverse, residents are all ages, they may come from the many commercial establishments along Nolensville Road; they may live in one of the numerous apartment
buildings in the Harding Mall area or they may have a home nearby. The curbside program doesn’t reach many of them so they get in their cars to make their Saturday rounds and stop at the recycling site. One of the most striking things about the Recyclers is their average age. Many have lived through WWII and a
depression. Many drive cars that are almost as old as they are. A large percentage have handicapped tags. One thing they have in common: they don’t like to throw things away. They are grateful to have a place to drop off their weekly collection of recyclable containers and newspapers. Sometimes their weekly
contribution is not much more that a plastic grocery bag half full of cans, bottles, cereal boxes and a week’s worth of newspapers. Then there is the Mexican restaurant and bar that brings its substantial weekly supply of brown beer bottles. The nearby lumber yard drops off its load of cardboard and then there is
always someone who has cleaned out their attic or basement.
The Middle Tennessee Group has sponsored this site so long that we know the people 
as they drive up-- their cars, their dogs and their ailments. Many of them have gotten to know each other and it is very likely that lively
conversations will spring up between people as they dump their stuff into the bin and walk back to their cars. Some of our membership show up every week just to help out and greet folks who are now old friends. Many of the Recyclers need help getting their stuff to the bins so the volunteers spend a lot of their time
hauling newspapers to the paper bins, tossing cans and glass into their respective bins, throwing cardboard into the cardboard bin and sorting someone’s collection of items into categories. All the while, there is conversation about the weather, about politics, or about their lives.
Sometimes when I work there, I think that the recycling effort is not just for the earth; it is for the people who live in the neighborhood. Since they can’t stand to throw the containers away, we give them an opportunity to help the earth and a place to take their stuff. I remember vividly an older woman, a regular at the site, who said that her greatest fear was that one day she would drive up and there would be no one to help her. We assured her that as long as the site was there, we would be too.
The work is dirty. Most Saturdays when I work there, I forget my gloves and about halfway through my shift of 3 hours I take a break and wash my hands. If it is summer, I head for air conditioning in my car as soon as there is a lull in the action. I don’t plan anything for the afternoon because I know I will be exhausted. So, why do we do it? I am not sure, but I know that when I leave, I feel like in that 3 hours, I have done the most important work I can do. Not only is the earth just a little better off and the Sierra Club coffers a little fuller, but I have given many people the opportunity to play out a deeply ingrained program that says: "it is a sin to waste anything." In the end it is the volunteers who benefit the most. It is for us.
Want to do something really worthwhile on an occasional Saturday morning? We need more volunteers. If you live in the Nashville area and want to help, whether for a hour or three, on some Saturday mornings, call the Middle Tennessee Group’s office at (615) 386-3640. Leave a message and we’ll call you back, and I guarantee that you will love the experience!