WILTON - The transfer station is looking to boost recycling efforts, add a swap hut and expand its operations. The station’s manager, Hollis Tyler, knows exactly how to start educating residents.

“We’re trying to grow a little bit at a time,” Tyler said. “The best way to start is with the kids.”

With that in mind, Academy Hill School students took a field trip to the transfer station Thursday, in an event organized by resident Rachel Jackson Hodsdon, AHS Principal Darlene Paine, with financial assistance from the Maine Community Foundation. At seven different stations, students learned how to compost, recycle and were entertained by representatives from a number of different organizations.

Some events at the station included a recycling relay with students running to throw milk jugs and cardboard into the correct buckets and arts and crafts projects with recycled materials. Volunteers from the Wilton Public Library, Poland Springs, Creative Energy LLC, University of Maine at Farmington and the Koviashuvic Local Living School were on hand to help out.

The transfer station recently received a $5,000 grant from the MCF for the Recycle and Share Project, thanks to the efforts of town officials and Hodsdon. One part of that project will be a “share shack,” that will be set adjacent to other transfer station activities. In that shed, residents can leave items they no longer are using for others who do need them.

The share shack is just a piece of the project, which is designed to boost the transfer station’s recycling numbers. More recycled material means less trash removal, which results in a lower cost to taxpayers. The Wilton Transfer Station logged 210.4 tons of recyclables in 2008.