Vermont Blends 'Green' Flush Toilets and a Greenhouse

By KATIE ZEZIMA

SHARON, Vt. - It is a rare rest stop attraction, especially in Vermont, a humid greenhouse soon to be filled with orchids and other flora better suited to steamy jungles than snowy mountains.

But this exotic enticement is possible here because of the most mundane of rest stop features: flushing toilets.

The State of Vermont has installed a system that uses plants and organisms to clean wastewater at a rebuilt rest stop on Interstate 89 here, 10 miles northwest of White River Junction, and then pumps the treated water back to the toilets for reuse.

State officials said the system, called a living machine, not only advanced so-called green construction, but also allowed the rest area to stay open and the country's first Vietnam veterans memorial, erected in 1982, to remain at the site.

"Its purpose is two-fold," Gov. Jim Douglas said. "We thought it was important to do something honoring our Vietnam veterans, and Vermont has a long tradition of environmental stewardship."