Meet Our Newest Board Member and Docent

The leadership of Orcas Recycling Services (ORS)/The Exchange, and our current docents, all believe strongly in the contribution the docents make to our recycling efforts. We depend on volunteers to fill these positions and are always excited to have a new volunteer join our ranks.

We are happy to introduce Eric Vallieres, both as a new Board Member, and our newest docent.

Eric and his wife, Christine, have been Orcasonians for 13 years. After Eric retired from a 40-year career in Thoracic Surgery and Oncology in May of 2025, they are both able to spend significantly more time on the island. Over the years, they became aware of The Exchange by bringing in their recycling and waste, checking out The Exchange website, and subscribing to our newsletter. They also met some of the leadership by participating in many Great Island Cleanup events and heard about opportunities to join as a volunteer over beers at the post-Cleanup gatherings. As Eric was preparing for retirement landing, it became evident to him that volunteering at the Z-wall would be an important part of his transition. He’s enjoyed every minute of it so far, and we’ve enjoyed having him.

“We are all very fortunate to be living in the Pacific Northwest and even more so to be living on this Island,” said Vallieres.

“What attracts most of us here are the natural surroundings, the clean air, the water and the beauty Mother Nature generously provides us and I firmly believe that we should so all we can to be good to Her in return. Individually managing and minimizing waste that we have to boat off to the mainland is one way to help and I see my role as a Z-wall docent  as a small way to do that by helping individuals better recycle and by providing information to those who want to know more on the topic. Eventually, I would also like to learn from those who are too busy to recycle and see how we could help and support them in their struggle. I would hope that in the next year we can recruit more volunteers to help us as I believe that with a higher headcount we could potentially offer more services and further impact how we help our Island.”