JEAN WEAVER Estes Valley Recycling Queen

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1 JEAN WEAVER Estes Valley Recycling Queen JEAN WEAVER RE Published by the Estes Park League of Women Voters & Community Recycling Committee 2014 CYCLE ESTES Estes Valley Recycling Queen

2 Introduction Jean Weaver has truly earned the title, Recycling Queen in Estes Park. Upon arriving in Estes Park in 1950, she was on a mission. She said, When I came to Estes, it had been my dream to see a recycling program in Estes Park. Jean has now been recycling in Estes Park for over 35 years. Although the road has not always been an easy one, she has remained dedicated to her mission. Because of her activism, many things have been recycled that would have otherwise been thrown away. Jean has made Estes Park a greener and more sustainable community. It is important for a community to commemorate those who have made it what it is. Their strength and determination help inspire greatness in future generations. Jean Weaver is one of those people. She chose to push recycling at a time when it was not the norm, easy, or popular. She chose to carry the burden literally when others would not. Jean has made Estes Park a greener and more sustainable community, and through her efforts, Estes Park has earned the distinction of having the second longest continuously operating recycling program in the state of Colorado behind only Boulder and Eco-Cycle. lmost everyone in Estes Park knows (or at least knows of) Jean Weaver. She is sort of a green hero. But many people do not know her whole story, and they should Pre-Estes Park Days Jean started recycling during World War II, a time when reduce, reuse, and recycle were the expected norm. With the Great Depression lingering in the memory of our citizens, people learned not to be wasteful. As a teenager during WWII, Jean and a neighbor would go around the neighborhood in their little red wagon, collecting scrap iron and newspapers. They didn't even throw grease away. In those days, it was unpatriotic to not recycle, Jean maintains. After WWII, she recalls that recycling stopped and the nation's consumption of disposable products skyrocketed. Jean knew it did not made sense to throw away items that could be reused. The witnessing of such wastefulness inspired her to find a better way. Left to right: Corinne Dyer, Irene Little (Environmental Stewardship Award, 2011), and Jean Weaver (Environmental Stewardship Award, 2009) Corinne Dyer I can say she is very dedicated and has tenacious spirit. She attends almost every event the LWV& CRC organizes. At one the events this year, we had collected aluminum cans to recycle. Before, I knew it she had the cans on the sidewalk and was jumping on them squashing them flat. Jean's is not young, but the process was to flatten the cans. When she sets her mind to recycle she does it, no objection expressed. I can easily see her jumping into dumpsters in her younger years and I honestly believe she would do it today, provided the recyclable was worthy of the leap. Jean has done incredible things for this community, town, and planet. For that, we graciously thank her! Let us be inspired by her actions and work toward creating a greener future!

3 After a summer hitch-hiking trip to Colorado Springs before her senior year at what is now called the College of New Jersey, she knew she wanted to live in Colorado for the rest of her life. She went back to New Jersey to finish her degree in physical education. When Jean left New Jersey in 1950, it was her dream to live in a place that had a recycling center and when she made her home in Estes Park, she was determined to make that dream come true. In recent years, Jean has slowed down a little. You may not find her loading tons of newspaper as she once did, but you will still find her doing what she loves recycling, educating citizens about recycling, helping businesses manage their recyclables, participating at various events with the League of Women Voters and Community Recycling Committee (LWV&CRC), serving as an advocate of peace at Bond Park on Wednesdays, and enjoying the company of her many friends in Estes Park (she has a lot of them!). While Jean has done many exciting things in her life, she is most known for her work with recycling. Now let s take a look at how it all got started. Recycling in Estes Park In 1975, Jean Weaver and Claudia Irwin were skiing. Claudia asked Jean, What do you think about having a newspaper drive? Jean quickly responded, GREAT! I ll help! At the time, Claudia was the choral director at Estes Park schools and was putting on musicals. The school gave her $300 to put on plays like My Fair Lady and Brigadoon, but that amount did not cover the cost of costumes and stage sets. Claudia had the goal of using newspaper drives to raise money for the musicals a method she had learned from her father, who used newspaper drives to raise money for his church when Claudia was a young girl. Jean and Claudia began collecting newspaper first, and expanded to other recyclables later. In preparation for the recycling drives, Claudia would set the date of the recycling drive and Jean would write the article informing readers about recycling and advertising the upcoming school play (some of which are included throughout this book). Tim Ashbury, former editor of the Trail Gazette, was pro recycling and was willing to publish articles related to recycling. Jean also began writing articles that would help inform residents of Estes Park about the importance of recycling and how to do it locally. 1

4 The proceeds from the recycling drives went to the schools to put on musicals. One time, the schools needed a bagpipe player for the musical Brigadoon; Jean showed her witty sense of humor when she advertised that the proceeds from the newspaper drives went to pay the piper. Article correction: Watson donated the use of a trailer. 2

5 The recycling drives got the people of Estes Park thinking about recycling and instilled an ethic of recycling in the kids involved. We cannot underestimate the long-term impact that those early days had on those involved, especially under the influence of charismatic leaders like Jean and Claudia! The monthly recycling drives started in September of 1976, and continued through April or May. To help with the newspaper drive, Jim Watson, owner of Watson Freight Lines (now Watson Moving), brought in a 40 foot semi hauler. On collection days, he drove to the school where 3 choir boys would empty newspapers from cars and load it into the trailer. He took it to a newspaper recycling vendor in Denver and brought freight back. In the beginning, they only collected 4 tons of newspaper. It raised under $100, but it was a start. Eco-Cycle had gotten started a few months before Jean and Claudia s newspaper collection project. Jean had known about them because she had dropped stuff off at their Boulder location. Anticipating that Jim Watson would be too busy to deliver newspaper for her over the summer, Jean decided to contact Pete Grogan from Eco-Cycle to tell him what they were doing. She asked if he had a trailer or truck to haul the newspaper. He agreed to help with one condition if Jean also collected tin, steel, and glass. Jean joyfully agreed! 3

6 Pete bought old school buses to collect recyclables. The first drive started at 9 a.m., which is about when the school bus from Boulder showed up. By 10, they had the bus filled and had two hours left to go. People kept bringing stuff. Amy, the driver, drove the bus to Lyons to trade out for another vehicle. That event marked the start of a significant relationship between Jean and Eco-Cycle, one that would span decades. Pete and Eco-Cycle helped provide the tools Jean needed to collect recycling on a larger scale. First, they send forty 55 gallon barrels, which they got from the highway department, to put items into. They also provided Jean with a trailer to load recyclables onto. Shortly thereafter, Pete contacted an insulation company that was eager to buy paper. They brought a trailer up to fill with newspaper. The insulation company paid for the trailer, hauling, and paper. Everyone was happy! Eventually, the insulation company did not want to buy paper anymore. So Eco-cycle had to take back their trailer. Jean would learn for many years to come that the markets and avenues for recycling were not easy, consistent, or stable. She would need to be resilient and resourceful. Fortunately, Jean could always find a way. Jean went to Jim Watson, who had a 40 foot trailer that he was willing to sell. He sold it to Jean for $2500. Jean had to sell her deceased husband s pickup to be able to buy the trailer, which she was able to do for a selling price of $2500. She used that trailer for recycling for 3 years. The recycling drives went on for at least 3 years. Claudia decided to quit teaching and get her Master s degree. By then, Jean was able to carry the recycling program forward on her own. Jean was still working with Eco-cycle. During the same time as the recycling drives were happening, Jean began to collect aluminum cans around town. After selling the cans for $.10 per pound, Jean and Claudia used the $400 profit to pay for a trip to Alaska. Jean still collects cans for various businesses around Estes Park. She always knew the value of items like aluminum cans; recycling cans save a lot of energy and should not be carelessly dumped into a landfill. 4

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8 Note: Newspaper error Claudia Irwin not present in picture 6

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10 In an era known to be unfriendly to recycling, Jean and Claudia s efforts were remarkable! In 1978, they salvaged 46,400 pounds of glass and 168 barrels of flattened tin and steel. In September 1976, they collected 306 tons of newspapers. 8

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15 CETA and Rocky Mountain National Park Jean was awarded a Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) grant for recycling in June Pete Grogan from Eco-Cycle was her supervisor and trained her. The grant paved the way for Jean to be the first professional paid recycler in Estes Park. She thinks she earned somewhere around $700, which was not much. Fortunately, Jean was not collecting recyclables to make money. In the summer of 1977, the National Park Service started to mandate a recycling program. Pete called Jean and told her that she would start picking up for 3 of the campgrounds in the park. Jean thought, Wonderful! Eco-Cycle brought up eighty-two 55 gallon containers with lids, stenciled with RECYCLE across them; these were to collect cans and glass. Coors was taking the cans, which apparently were a valuable commodity. Jean had to fend off robbers a couple of times, one of whom said he was stealing the cans to get money for his church. A bit ironic, wouldn t you agree? Another instance of theft led Fuhrman Salizar from Coors to bring Jean a lockable box the type that typically fit on the back of a beverage truck. Jean was thrilled with the storage container donated by Coors, and still remember the day it was delivered to her home. A truck and some workmen from Coors showed up and asked Jean where she wanted the box. Once she told them, they literally cut the box off of a truck. The men from Coors told her to be sure it was where she wanted it because it would be difficult to move later! The Estes Park Trail Gazette ran a picture of the operation in the paper. To this day, Jean still has this box and people often drop off bags of cans for her. 13

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17 Jean picked up at Rocky Mountain National Park for three years mostly on her own time with her own gas. When Jean gave it up, Stephen Gillette and his sons picked it up for a few years. Eventually, A-1 Trash took it over. Later, Rocky Mountain National Park developed an advanced internal recycling program. 15

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19 Much Needed Help Jean was initially supposed to have a few local boys help with her recycling project, but they didn t qualify because their parents made too much money. In this instance, what seemed like bad luck turned out to be a saving grace. During the first year of paper drives at the high school, Jean and Claudia encountered a mother whose daughter wanted to work with them. Jean and Claudia met the young special needs girl named Jamie, but were reluctant to hire her because the job was labor intensive, dirty, and dangerous. Jamie said she really wanted to do it, so Jean always enthusiastic to gain support from passionate recyclers - said okay. Jamie Boliere turned out to be fantastic! She had the desire to do something useful, something that would help people. She knew that recycling was a necessity, and was willing to do whatever was necessary to make that happen. She worked for Jean 6 days a week for 10 summers. Jean fondly recalls a time when they were loading cans into her vehicle. Unfortunately, on this day, they could not fit them all into the truck. Jamie held the last bag out the window so they could take them all. That was the sort of person Jamie was willing to do what was needed to get the job done. She was very motivated! She would work hard without a break and would never complain. Jamie helped once a week at the campgrounds, emptying the cans out, which would take about 3 hours to do. Jamie would remember all the things Jean would have to do, and would tell her at the right time in the right order. She had a great ability to remember, which really helped Jean. Jamie has since moved away, but keeps in touch and still recycles. Jamie s family takes the money they earn from recycling and gives it to their church. Jean commends Jamie s mother for supporting her daughter in whatever she wanted to do. Later Challenges with Recycling After a few years, the school wanted to get rid of recycling program. Therefore, Jean needed to find a new place to store her recycling trailer. Recycling was not popular in those days, so it was not easy to find a place to put a 40 foot trailer. During the school newspaper drives, Jim and Lois Harvell used to drop off 17

20 their newspapers; Jean thought they might be receptive to helping her find a place to park her trailer. Jim and Lois Harvell let Jean park it at their Pixie Gas and Car Wash on Moraine starting around November, They made the following arrangement the Harvell family got money from the newspaper and Jean got the money from the cans. Watson drove to Eco-Cycle to drop items off and would bring the trailer back empty. The Rocky Mountain News and Denver Post loved being able to drop their excess newspapers off while they were doing their rounds. The trailer was stationed at Pixie Gas and Car Wash for a few years. A business located close to the Pixie Gas and Car Wash began complaining; they said the trailer blocked the view of their store from traffic coming from the park. He got a petition and neighboring businesses and people signed it. Jean was forced to move her trailer once again. Jean tried to get the help of Stephen Gillette, who was running the local trash station, but he was not able to help right away. About 6 months went by before Jean contacted Stephen Gillette again; he said she could park the trailer by the gate to A-1 Trash. It worked. It was open all the time. People didn t have trouble finding it. Stephen eventually offered to take over all recycling for Estes Valley, a change that Jean eagerly accepted. A-1 later started offering curbside recycling. Jean has tremendous respect and appreciation for Stephen Gillette. Stephen, like Jean, pushed the limits for recycling at a time when recycling was not always easy, cost effective, or popular. Jean makes a good point when she said, Stephen was unlike other trash haulers he was very supportive of recycling. Stephen has known Jean for years, and has undoubtedly been touched by her passion for recycling: Jean is an inspiration. She does this (recycling) because she believes it is the right thing to do. Her efforts have blossomed and continue to grow. What a great person. It should be noted that Stephen Gillette s passion and support for recycling continue to this day. As the director of Solid Waste for Larimer County, he has led his department to underwrite the cost to provide Estes Park residents with a recycling center within the local waste transfer station. He and his division also provide satellite recycling facilities to the residents of Berthoud and the Red Feather Lakes area. He is a frequent speaker on sustainable practices and argues that people should recognize that discarded items should be viewed as resources, 18

21 not trash, and that the challenge is to look for ways to reduce, re-use, and recycle whenever possible. 19

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49 Even as years have passed and a sustainable recycling program has been in place for years, Jean continues to educate others about recycling through articles and various activities some of which she does on her own and others which she does in coordination with the League of Women Voters & Community Recycling Committee (a subcommittee of the LWV, since 2007). When I asked Jean s dear friend Randy Maharry what activities Jean has been involved with in recent years, he quickly started listing: She has collected aluminum cans from a local RV park, Trail Gazette, and several resort rental sites; helped me sort recyclables for the golf course for the past two years; delivered outdated books from the library to CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials), gathers old newspapers from the bank, and presents recycle skits for Earth Day and other events. She has also collected recycling from Bond Park for numerous events, passed out Recycle Guides (available at ) at the post office, distributes Recycle Guides to various businesses in town, volunteers for events that promote recycling like passing out cloth bags for Earth Day, among other things. She is always working on a number of projects at the same time. Maybe that is why she has been recognized by Eco-Cycle, Larimer Country, Recycle Now!, and the League of Women Voters & Community Recycling Committee for all her efforts. Among her many recent contributions, she helped the town acquire an Earth Day flag which flies over the Town Hall every April. 47

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