The Hudson Sustainability Advisory Committee opened its March 23 meeting with a familiar goal, strengthening ties between the town and its students. This month’s meeting welcomed Phoenix Adkins, a representative from the Alvirne High School Sustainability Club, continuing the Committee’s effort to bring younger voices into its work.
“We welcome that club to have student representatives join us for our regular monthly meetings to share with us what they’re doing with their programs,” Chair Karl Huber said. “We give Phoenix and the other students our packet, so they can see the agenda and the projects we’re talking about.”
Adkins said the club is eager to help with outreach, especially through posters and school based communication. “I do a lot of the posters for my club,” Adkins said. “I can bring them to my principal, he signs it, photocopies it, and I can put posters basically wherever.”
The Committee quickly turned to one of its biggest ongoing collaborations with the Department of Public Works: composting.
Director of Public Works Jay Twardosky reported that the town’s first large scale composting effort is finally ready for residents. “We screened a bunch of compost at the Transfer Station, and that is going to be ready to start handing out to citizens April 4,” he said. A soil analysis will be posted on a large sign at the compost pile, and residents will be allowed five gallon pails per visit. The pile contains “a couple thousand yards” of composted material, an early milestone in what the Committee hopes will become a broader residential composting program.
The timing aligns with the seasonal reopening of the Hudson Transfer Station, which will operate on Saturday, April 11, and Saturday, April 25. “It’s all information stored on the Transfer Station website,” Huber said. On those days, residents can dispose of household items, construction and demolition debris, and outdoor materials. A separate Household Hazardous Waste Collection will take place on April 18 at 25 Crowne Street in Nashua.
Twardosky noted that the Transfer Station’s availability is especially important as the weather warms. “The majority of the people in this town wouldn’t do it, but occasionally we find stuff dumped on the side of the road,” he said. “Almost every single bit of it is stuff we take at the Transfer Station. You can scratch your head as to why they would dump that instead of something that we don’t take.”
Beginning April 4 and continuing through next winter, residents will also be able to drop off metal, cardboard, and yard waste every Saturday without using one of their three annual Transfer Station passes. Committee member Chris Thatcher asked how much material the town typically processes. Twardosky said the Transfer Station handles metal and cardboard “whenever we can spring through fall,” and while he didn’t offer exact numbers, he said the containers are routinely full after Saturday collections.
The Transfer Station is open from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., and the Committee expects activity to increase as residents take advantage of the expanded services.
The next meeting of the Sustainability Advisory Committee is set for Monday, April 27, at 7 p.m. in the Buxton Room of Town Hall.