Open Mic

It is not every day that an 86-year-old decides to make the community better for future generations.  That is what happened at Buckner Westminster Place in Longview, and it resulted in a new recycling program.  The senior living community celebrated its new program at a special ceremony this week.  Residents dropped off their first recycling items and released dozens of pigeons to symbolize a new beginning.   75 people came out to the celebration at Buckner Westminster Place.

Bobby Jo Walker is the 86-year-old resident behind the new program.  She doesn’t mind being in the spotlight or following her dreams.  She was crowned Mrs. Florida in 1958, after all.  Now, she’s speaking up for a different cause.  She came up with the idea to start a recycling program, and she worked with the executive director at Buckner Westminster Place to make it happen.  Bobby Jo learned that it is not easy for a senior living community to launch a recycling program, but she says it is well worth it. 

“We as the older generation are interested in helping to preserve our country.  We want to participate and be youthful and contribute to our community the best way we know how at this time in our lives,” said Bobby Jo. 

Bobby Jo and the other residents are “eager to get started.”  They hope other businesses or senior communities will follow their lead.  “Being of the old school ideology, waste is not a good thing.  I was taught to clean my plate.  I just hate to throw something away if it can be reused again,” said Bobby Jo.

Buckner Westminster Place had to overcome some logistical and physical challenges to make Bobby Jo’s dream come true.  Once the executive director found a company that doesn’t require separate bins for aluminum, plastic or paper, the idea became more realistic.  Residents will put their items in one container and it all goes together in a larger recycling receptacle. 

“It’s so much easier than having to sort, rinse and clean.  It really fits people’s time constraints and what our community was looking for,” said Executive Director Wes Wells.