Dirty Money

The story of how everyday people make a living in the North Country—by getting dirty.

Story by Dimas Sanfiorenzo

Photos courtesy of Stephen Langdon

Some people have regular jobs, nine-to-five office gigs. They get up in the morning, put on some nice clothes, eat lunch, and stay clean throughout the day. Then there are the other people, the people who are in the trenches. People who go to work every day smelling clean but come back a complete, filthy mess—and they can’t get enough of it. These people are scattered throughout the region, and they are doing some of the dirtiest jobs in the North Country. 

For 15 years, Stephen Langdon was one of those people. First starting in the non-profit sector, then eventually working with New York state at the Department of Environmental Conservation, Langdon was a part of the Adirondack trail crew, a job he describes as being “extremely physically demanding.” Langdon would spend most of his time clearing fallen trees and building stone steps, but there was one aspect that made working on a trail one of the dirtiest jobs in the North Country: cleaning and removing outhouses.

“You try to get it done as quick as possible. It gets pretty nasty,” Langdon says. “You had to, you know, somehow clean that up without, you know, getting too involved in it.”

There are no Port-a-Potty’s throughout the six million acres of Adirondack wilderness; instead, there are these miniature wooden houses that contain a hole and a seat. Naturally, there’s only so much a hole can hold, so the house has to be moved and the hole has to be covered—by burying all the human feces.  It’s a messy process, and one that Langdon often did by himself. It’s a job that can become quite problematic when certain situations occur. This includes when people throw their trash in the hole—making a nasty mixture to dig out—or when outhouses are in more obscure places and have not been changed in years. Langdon recalls one of his first stinky situations was when he was in an area of the Adirondacks named Panther Gorge. Even though he wasn’t alone for this mess, it didn’t make things cleaner.

“I’m pretty good with poop. I don’t gag too much, but a couple of guys just couldn’t take it, and they had to get out of there.”

“This outhouse was definitely, eh, you know. The poop was kind of combed up above the seat…People just kept pooping in it, even though it was completely full,” Langdon says. “I’m pretty good with poop. I don’t gag too much, but a couple of guys just couldn’t take it, and they had to get out of there.”

While Langdon might specialize in dealing with various types of human poop, there is Karen Laliberte, who is good at dealing with various types of dog poop. Laliberte, along with partner Ron, run Pepe La Poop N Scoop Services, a company that picks up waste left by man’s best friend.

“It’s definitely a unique business,” Laliberte says. “It’s really more of a luxury. It’s not a mandatory service.”

Laliberte, who is a dog owner herself, started the business two years ago and currently serves the Sudbury, North Bay, and Sturgeon Falls areas of Ontario. The business consists of Laliberte traveling to homeowner’s houses and clearing out the mess the owner’s pet made in the yard. It is dirty work, and no special tools are necessary.  “(To clean) you could use a pooper scooper, a bag, a shovel—you know, you really don’t need much,” Laliberte says.

Laliberte first got into the business by simply being a dog lover. Factoring in her love for dogs, a demand in pet services, and the reward for helping the environment , the ultimate dirty job was born. Even though she understands some of the displeasure someone may have with picking up their dogs waste, Laliberte maintains a fairly care-free attitude about the whole thing.

“I mean, I’m pretty much used to it at this point,” Laliberte says. “Yeah, it does smell. You just have to deal with it.”

 While Laliberte deals with the waste left by animals, Rodney Elmer deals with the waste inside of an animal—dead waste that is. Elmer owns Mountain Deer Taxidermy, a store that supplies dead trophy animals to the folks in Northfield, Vermont.  During the year, Elmer and his wife, who is also a taxidermist, serve anywhere from 300 to 400 clients. As a child, Elmer was always evolved in hunting which lead to natural evolution of taxidermy later.

“There’s a fair amount of blood and guts stuff… You can’t be scared of a scalpel.”

“I went to a taxidermist and thought to myself ‘I could do that,’” Elmer said. “I gave it a try, and I ended up loving it.” That was 19 years ago, and he has been practicing the art ever since.  The process of taxidermy includes skinning the animal, turning it inside out, and clearing out the insides.  It’s a skill that takes great patience, handiness with tools, an artistic mind, and—of course—a strong stomach.  “There’s a fair amount of blood and guts stuff… You can’t be scared of a scalpel,” Elmer says. “But it’s a lot of fun.”

And, there lies the neat and clean part about all these dirty jobs. No matter how filthy they get, or nauseating things might seem, these folks are doing the dirtiest jobs in the North Country, and they love it—even when they decide to give it up.

“I miss it a lot. Yeah, it was a good job,” Langdon says about his time on the trail. “Even considering the nastiness of the outhouse moving part, it was the best job I ever had.”

What is the dirtiest job you have ever had?

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