Nyle Ludolph
Curbside blue boxes dotted along city streets are a symbol of a recycling program that's largely taken for granted these days. Surprisingly, the idea didn't arise from a government committee wrestling with the challenge of waste management. It came from visionary thinkers like Nyle Ludolph, a humble man with a passion to make a difference in Kitchener, Ont.
The 84-year-old blue-box pioneer died of cancer at his home on Oct. 14.
Ludolph was born in 1927, the middle child of farmer/butcher Albert Ludolph and his wife, Edna, both descended from a line of original settlers to the area. The family of Jehovah's Witnesses was of frugal disposition. Broken items were repaired, every single part of an animal was used, and nothing went to waste. Those values informed Ludolph's childhood and became deeply ingrained.
When the Second World War broke out and men went overseas to fight, Ludolph, like many farm boys, dropped out of school to help work the land. Even though he only completed Grade 8, he read widely throughout his life, particularly about social justice. He was a big fan of Tommy Douglas, the Canadian politician who introduced universal health care to Canada.
Ludolph's daughter, Linda Padfield, recalls driving with her father when she was 8 years old and hearing news about strikes on the radio. She said to him, "Unions cause a lot of trouble, don't they?" Ludolph pulled the car to the side of the road and gave his daughter a simplified lesson on labour relations and why, in his opinion, unions were definitely not the problem. He couldn't know, at that point, that his future lay in management.
In the late 1970s Superior Sanitation, (later to become Laidlaw Waste Systems), the collections contractor for the City of Kitchener, hired the strapping 6-foot-2 Ludolph as a garbage collector. It was a good and steady job, but Ludolph was deeply disturbed by what he saw: An overwhelming number of newspapers, bottles, plastic containers and cans, all discarded without a second thought.
When a volunteer at the Kitchener/Waterloo office of Pollution Probe organized Garbage Fest '77 to raise awareness about the consequences of too much garbage, Ludolph was asked by his employer to attend.
That's where he met Jack McGinnis of Toronto, an American ex-pat who in the early 1970s roamed the Beaches neighbourhood in his green Ford pickup, volunteering to take cans and bottles from anyone who would leave them at the curb. McGinnis and a partner had recently started Resource Integration Systems (RIS) to advise governments about waste management, and had been involved with a recycling pilot program for the Canadian Forces Base Borden.
The event was a catalyst for Ludolph, who saw clearly that he had a mission. He was determined to begin at home. His wife, Marion, and son, Doug, were seconded to scrupulously recycle and compost for one year. Ludolph was meticulous, carefully weighing every bag of trash. At the end of 12 months, the family of three had produced a mere 102 pounds of garbage, a total of six bags.
"He didn't preach what he didn't know," says Kathleen Barsoum, co-coordinator in the waste management division for the Region of Waterloo.
Ludolph reasoned that if his own family could dramatically cut down on waste, so could others. In 1981, RIS submitted a proposal to Superior Sanitation to collect and recycle curbside for a pilot project in Kitchener. The timing was excellent because the city had extended the company's contract on the basis that it bring in a recycling program.
Ludolph was the project's champion, and he was very persuasive. A subsidiary, Total Recycling Systems, was spun off from Superior, with him at the helm.
The first corrugated plastic recycling boxes appeared in Kitchener in 1981 as part of a pilot program. Ludolph assembled many of them himself. It was expected that 1,360 kilograms (3,000 pounds) per week of recyclable materials would be collected. Instead, the projected amount tripled. By the end of the first month, 75 per cent of 1,100 households in the test area were participating. Residents who were not part of the program were calling city hall, clamouring for a recycling box of their own.
RIS came up with the slogan "We Recycle" to be printed on the box. Blue was the favoured colour because it was visible against grass and snow and able to withstand damage from ultraviolet light. In 1983, the blue box program was launched throughout Kitchener, affecting 35,000 households.
Ludolph spent the next two years travelling across Canada to promote recycling in municipalities and schools.
"Nyle probably met every waste management official in Canada. He spread the gospel of the blue box everywhere he went, including schools, where he used mascots to get his message across," says Steve Gyorffy, former director of operations for the City of Kitchener. "He truly believed that children were like little policemen in the home and if recycling was going to catch on, children would make the difference. Parents were not going to get away with throwing stuff out because their kids would check up on them. He was right."
When he wasn't deeply involved in fighting to preserve the environment, his love of nature extended to watching birds on birdhouses he built himself. He also made chiming clocks for family members. But his most lasting legacy and proudest achievement was widespread use of the blue box. A blue box display is near completion and will be opening at the Waterloo Regional Museum in November. Ludolph will figure prominently.
"Right up to the very end he was alive with information, knowledge and passion. He was a firecracker," Barsoum says.
Carl Zehr, Mayor of Kitchener adds, "He's a great example of how one person can influence what happens in an entire community, an entire country, the world. He persisted until everyone bought in."
Ludolph leaves his daughter, Linda, sons Doug and Larry, and eight grandchildren.
Special to The Globe and Mail