Nikko's Notes

Your garbage gets thrown into a landfill. Totally unhealthy for the earth and all of us, right? Well, the Orcas Island Exchange is trying to reduce the amount of island waste going into landfills under the direction of Jeff Ludwig who runs the operation with dedication and hope that it will work.

The Exchange originally started in the mid-eighties when it was just a lot of tents. For sixteen years, Jeff worked there in the winter while enjoying time on the water as a sea kayak guide during the warmer months. The original Exchange was lost to fire in 2013. When they were rebuilding, the people running it recognized that Jeff had the most experience, so they decided to put him in charge. He loves working there and his favorite part is the people. He manages a team of thirteen people, with six more working on the Transfer Station side.

The original landfill was outside the Exchange, but that got full, so they started shipping waste far from Orcas to Eastern Washington....