Another Way to Docent

Our docents have our respect and thanks. They bring life experiences from a variety of sources that help when dealing with the public and building knowledge of how we recycle here on Orcas Island.  Our docents include a musician, a marine welder, an instructor and teacher, and even a retired thoracic surgeon.

We also have a docent who contributes in other valuable ways.  Rob Wilson, with his background as a mechanical engineer, determined he could be our “tool man”.  The docents need really long-handled tools to poke, stick, or grab items in the big bins that might contaminate a load of legitimate recycled materials. We’ve made some poor attempts to create simple tools in the past, but Rob knew what he was doing.

“Just tell me what you want to do, and I’ll make a tool that does that,” he said.

And Rob has delivered several times. You may see docents using his tools while you are recycling. Rob designs the tools and provides the materials and finished product at no cost to Orcas Recycling Services (ORS).  Turns out, he has been doing this with recycling centers since 1978! Each time we successfully use one of his tools, we realize how important he is to our effort.

If you know Rob, or meet him at the Z-wall sometime, please let him know he is appreciated. Now, if we can just convince him to come work weekly at the Z-wall.  (Thanks, Rob!)