Monday, March 20, Chester High School had the Randolph County recycling coordinator come into the Journalism class for second hour. Michelle Huether coordinates the surrounding areas around Chester, Illinois, to better our world and keep recyclable trash out of landfills. She was asked many great questions by the journalism students, who were interviewing her about her job.

One great question that stood out in general was, “What is your long-term outlook for your job?” She answered, “I want to have a basis of operation where you could drop off old furniture and other things that are harder to recycle. It would also be helpful to have monthly meetings for anyone who is interested in the industry of recycling.” If the monthly meetings were to happen, there could be a lot more things brought into the process. Also if there was a certain spot to drop off furniture that isn’t in use anymore, it could take some weight off of us and help the economy at the same time. She replied with other things that she would love to see in the future, but these two basic things could really help the economy.

Another question that was asked was, “How was the industry affected by COVID-19?” Ms. Huether answered, “The process was slowed down at first, but what I really noticed was the plastic increase that we received during the quarantine that occurred.” Having the plastic increase does really make sense due to how much bottled water was being purchased during the quarantine. She mentioned that water bottles are really common in general, but when the world was shut down, she had never seen so many bottles dropped into her industry.

The whole interview definitely upped the students’ knowledge about recycling in general. The students learned a lot about how recycling works around the county. Michelle Huether did a great job in answering to her best abilities, and having her here we all got a better outlook on how recycling helps our economy. She showed that she enjoys doing her job, though she didn’t get upset if some students weren’t interested in the recycling industry.