5 ECO-FRIENDLY PEOPLE OF INTEREST
The
AUTHOR
BY SUE-ELLEN SANDERS
PHOTOS BY ED DRONDOSKI
For some people, everything they touch turns to gold. But for
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Jacquie Burgess, everything eventually becomes green. She is
the recycling queen of St. Lucie County. Her passion is raising
awareness of the need to plan for our Earth’s future by recycling
and reusing anything from furniture to trash.
And as the air she lives and breathes is recycled air, so there is not a
moment of Jacquie’s day where she herself is not planning and scheming
a way to reuse something. It’s a way of life that Jacquie inherited
from her mother, who was raised in England during World War II years
and taught her family to be resourceful and frugal.
”We didn’t want for anything, but we were never wasteful,” Jacquie
says. “Everything was put to good use; we were never a throwaway
household. I even made my own Barbie clothes from scraps of materials.”
Jacquie buys and renovates homes, including the house she lives in,
which is filled with second-hand furniture that she has lovingly restored.
Even the clothing on her back is as likely to be vintage-wear as
new, and her favorite places to shop include Goodwill and Habitat for
Humanity’s ReStore, where she claims to find treasures every day.
Early stages of Burgess’ career included working as a kindergarten
teacher and for the University of Florida Extension Service, surrounded
by naturalists who inspired her to become like-minded.
Finally, Jacquie combined her love for teaching children and recycling
lifestyle into her dream job — teaching recycling in the schools, through
clubs and homeowner associations as an education specialist, in a grantfunded
position. Soon she transferred to the landfill as recycling manager,
where her brainstorms sparked special projects, like the annual
recycling calendar, with drawings submitted by area schoolchildren,
and everything from recycling regattas to fashion shows using thrift
store clothing, encouraging adults and children alike to adopt recycling
as a lifestyle.
Although her position was eliminated from the county budget last
summer, Jacquie is working on the next step in her life. “I’m not exactly
sure what that’s going to be yet,” she says,” but I was ready to move
on.” Her accomplishments include a children’s book on recycling called,
“If I were President, This is How I Would Save the Earth,” self-published
last year.
The book was inspired by a kindergarten student’s drawing and
Burgess’ encounter with President Bush when he visited the Treasure
Coast after the 2004 hurricanes. “I asked him if he recycled. He said, “Of
course I do.”
Written in a rhyming Dr. Seuss-style, the books is filled with whimsical
drawings and ideas for recycling, including one for “glow-in-thedark”
recycling bins — so recycling can be 24-hours a days. (Find the
book at www.Xlibris.com.)
Although her daily job is no longer to educate others about recycling,
she goes into schools and libraries to promote her book and is
thrilled with the response she gets from children. “They just soak it
up,” she says.
It’s all part of her overall recycling approach. “It’s not just about curbside
recycling. It’s about reusing things in your everyday life.”
Through Art in Public Places, Jacquie Burgess helped
bring this recycling sculpture to the County Administration
Building. Her children’s book on recycling was
inspired by an encounter with President Bush when he
visited the Treasure Coast after the 2004 hurricanes.
Name: Jacquie Burgess
Age: 47
Family: Daughter, Olivia, 19; significant other,
Garth.
Occupation: Author/property owner.
Hometown: Originally from Long Island.
Moved to Fort Pierce 26 years ago
Education: Bachelor of Arts in Business, Barry
University, 1990
What people don’t know about me: “That I own
Split Enz Salon & Spa on North Beach.”
What inspires me: “People who care about our
LIVING GREEN
/www.Xlibris.com.)