Howard Worcester is Truman State University recycling.

Worcester took over as the recycling and surplus coordinator in May 2001, and in that short time, he has recycled the recycling program.

Physical Plant Director Karl Schneider said Worcester has improved the program because he cares a lot about it.

"He's very well organized, he takes a lot of initiative, he's a hard worker and he's very, very competent at what he does," Schneider said. "He does care a lot about the job and about having people participate, and that makes a big difference."

Worcester's story has come full circle. Born in a small town called La Junta, Colo., life took Worcester all over the globe before bringing him back to another small town, Kirksville, where he has now settled with his wife, Tawnya.

Worcester said his family lives about 25 miles outside of town in a country house with a beautiful view, and they love it.

"It was kind of our dream," Worcester said.

Small town, big travels

Born in Colorado, Worcester was raised in Idaho. After high school, he entered the Army and served for eight years. While serving, he spent two years in Ethiopia and more than four years in the Far East. After returning home, Worcester enrolled at the College of Southern Idaho, where he received a degree in agriculture.

His plan was to go into farming, but Worcester said he entered the National Guard for supplemental income. Worcester said he wouldn't trade his experiences in the military for anything.

"I got to see a lot of places I wouldn't have got to see," Worcester said. "Some weren't the most pleasant, but the experiences are life-changing experiences."

Catching the recycling bug

Worcester found his love for recycling while working for the National Guard at a food warehouse in Idaho.

Worcester said the warehouse was throwing away enormous amounts of cardboard every day.

"It was bugging me," Worcester said. "So I put in a proposal to start a recycling program."

The National Guard gave him the opportunity, and Worcester jumped at it, starting the program from scratch.

It was 1990, and recycling was becoming an issue across the country. Worcester said it became his interest and eventually his passion.

Truman meets recycling

 After his 25 years in the National Guard, Worcester finally retired from active duty. By this time, he and his wife had three grown children and one school-age daughter. They moved to Kirksville three and a half years ago, and Worcester took a job as a housekeeper in E.C. Grim Hall. Then, when the recycling and surplus coordinator position became available, he applied and got the position.

Prior to his hiring, the University was paying $16,000 a year for a contractor to take cardboard and a few paper products, Worcester said. Now, the recycling program brings in about $400 a month in revenue.

Schneider said Worcester worked hard with the public relations office  to make people more aware of Truman's recycling program.

Worcester said the administration has graciously supported recycling.

"We wouldn't be as far as we are now without their support and encouragement," Worcester said.

Students also have played a major role in the new recycling program. Worcester works with a mixture of institutional workers, scholarship workers and volunteers.

"The gem of this whole program is the volunteer workers," Worcester said. "I love them so much because they don't have to come."

Student volunteers and workers mostly help out with sorting. Every day, Worcester and his crew pick up recyclables from campus buildings. The items are taken to the recycling center, located across La Harpe Street south of the rugby field, and sorted into their respective bins, such as paper, newspaper, plastic and glass.   

Worcester said 95 percent of what people throw away probably could be recycled, and the center takes about anything but wet garbage.

Worcester said that beginning at 7 a.m. each day, his crew picks up the cardboard from all over campus and brings it back to be baled. Baling involves unloading the cardboard into a huge machine that smashes the cardboard as far down as it can. The University usually produces one bale of cardboard a day, which equals 1,000 pounds of cardboard.

Recycling gains momentum

Worcester said that in the past six months alone, the University has doubled its recycling output. Its example is apparently catching on.

Some seniors in the La Plata, Mo., school district recently began a recycling program at their school and have partnered with the University. Worcester said the University provides the containers, and the La Plata students bring their recyclables here.

Some University students also are recycling at school and at home.

Junior Kari Hoebing said she always recycles paper when she is on campus.

"At my house, we recycle cardboard, glass, plastic and cans," Hoebing said.

Worcester just added a pad for a drop-off area at the University recycling center. Now, anyone who wishes to recycle and perhaps has no other means to do so can drop off their recyclables in one of the green bins outside the recycling center.

Worcester said he is pleased that people want to recycle.

"Recycling makes you feel good," Worcester said. "I am probably the only person on campus who has a job where they feel good all day long."

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