As seen on HomerNews.com, Alaska.

As custodian of Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center, Dan Thorington has taken recycling to attention-getting proportions. He recently was named one of 10 recipients of the United States Department of Interior's Environmental Achievement Award.

"(Thorington) started an outstanding recycling program for Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. He produced a creative and comprehensive recycling guide for visitors and employees, diverts 80 percent of waste from the center and forges recycling partnerships with others in the community," was DOI's summary of Thorington's efforts.

"Thorington has a passion for recycling and green living," said Poppy Benson, public programs supervisor for the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, in a description of Thorington's commitment to a healthier planet.

"My whole impetus is that I'm a father. I feel a responsibility to leave the world in a better place for my kids," he said, although recognizing his drive isn't universally shared. "There are times I'd just like to grab people and shake them and say can't you see what's happening. It just can't keep on like it is. Americans represent 5 percent of (the world's) population and consume 25 percent of the resources. It's completely unfair."

Before coming to Homer seven years ago, Thorington lived in the Southeast Alaska community of Gustavus, where he worked as carpenter for Glacier Bay National Park for about five years and managed the dump for two years.

During that time he instituted a waste management recycle, reusing and compost program. He also instituted what is known in Gustavus as the "Community Chest," reusable items sold at a low cost. It is operated by volunteers.

"We collected everything — doors, windows, plumbing, clothes, everything," he said. "There's great stuff that goes through that store. It's been going 10 years and has raised $100,000."

As Paul Berry, manager of the Gustavus Disposal and Recycling Center, attests, Thorington's contributions to Gustavus have left a long-lasting impact.

He describes Thorington as "one of my heroes."

"He's a driven man in terms of making stuff happen," Berry said. "(Thorington) has a strong environmental commitment."

Shortly after the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center opened, Thorington was hired as custodian of the 37,000 square foot building. It welcomes 60,000 visitors a year and provides space for numerous meetings, seminars and events.

The center includes office space for about 40 employees of the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge, Kachemak Bay Research Reserve and Alaska Geographic.

While still new to the job, Thorington produced a guide that emphasized reducing the amount of products and materials consumed, the reuse of items until their usefulness is depleted and recycling everything possible.

"We started encouraging people to recycle different waste streams until it got to the point where we were doing everything we possibly could, including composting," Thorington said.

One of the biggest challenges was helping people understand paper recycling included junk mail, magazines and cereal boxes.

"They could get office paper, but it was hard for them to understand that a Kleenex box was recyclable," Thorington said.

Another challenge was increasing an awareness of food waste.

"It took time to get people used to throwing food waste and coffee grounds in compost bins," Thorington said of waste he and other center employees take home to compost for gardens.

According to Thorington's records, the center generates about 10,500 pounds of waste yearly. In the four years he has been the center's custodian, 37,000 pounds of waste have been recycled.

"The whole goal has been to try to get people to think of waste as resources. ... It's not only a lost resource, it's lost revenue. Everything you throw out, you already paid for. If there's some way to recoup that, it's in our best interests to do so," Thorington said.

To move Homer toward a greener future, Thorington suggests starting with paper.

"Roughly half, if not 65 percent of the waste stream is any kind of paper," he said. "If you go to a dump and look at a conveyor belt, it's choked with all different kinds of paper. To just sort that out, the life of the landfill would extend dramatically."

In a recent newsletter to center employees, Thorington offered the following tips.

Get a mug. Coffee cups are prevalent castaways, Thorington has found.

Use both sides of a piece of paper;

Bring a lunch. From his work, Thorington has observed take-out meal containers mean more trash.

Reuse bags. Paper, plastic and Ziplocs can be used more than once, Thorington reminds.

"It all comes back to educating people to stop consuming so much," Thorington said.

Receiving the Environmental Achievement Award makes Thorington eligible for the White House Closing the Circle Award.

That award recognizes federal employees and teams in the following categories: waste/pollution prevention; recycling; environmental management systems; sustainable design/green buildings; and green purchasing. Recipients are announced in April.