By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
When Rachel Sizer was growing up in North Ridgeville, Ohio, her father worked many years as a truck driver hauling trash.
“He always stressed he was doing this job so we wouldn’t have to work jobs handling trash,” Sizer said, noting that she and her brother were the first in their family to go to college. “I used to talk trash with him all the time.”
So when Sizer graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in environmental policy and analysis, her first job wasn’t exactly what her dad had in mind. She took a job at a concert venue, sorting through trash for recyclables.
From there, Sizer moved up to the position of recycling coordinator for Wood County, and a couple weeks ago she became the City of Bowling Green sustainability coordinator.
Sizer is still learning the job, but has been informed she is handling “everything green” for the city. So far that has consisted of the recycling and refuse programs, learning about the city’s stormwater plans, and working with the city arborist on where new trees should be planted.
As someone who rents her home in Bowling Green, Sizer would like to explore the possibility of recycling being picked up at rental properties. Though the recycling drop-off site in BG is available to local residents, Sizer knows that some people don’t want to bother loading up items and dropping them off.
“I’m the weirdo who pulls it out and puts it in my car and takes it over,” she said with a smile.
It could be helpful if containers specifically for recycling cardboard were put at apartment complexes on BGSU student move-in days, since the dumpsters are always overflowing on those days, Sizer said.
“I would love to try to work with the bigger landlords to get recycling,” she said.
Sizer is right at home in a job handling “everything green.”
While growing up, her family spent a great deal of time on Lake Erie. She recalled science-based “field trips” with her mom on the lake. And she remembers the summer of 2017, when Lake Erie turned green with harmful algal blooms.
Sizer relishes peaceful places in nature. She has a favorite place to put in a kayak on the lake. She finds solace in the local Wintergarden Park and Oak Openings, but sometimes she just has to return to the metroparks in the Cleveland area.
“I like being outside, hiking, just being outside,” Sizer said. “There’s nothing better than being in nature where it’s nice and quiet.”
Those closest to Sizer have been known to call her “grandma,” because of her favorite pastimes. She knits, crochets, reads, and loves cats.
“I have a television, I just don’t use my television,” she said.
For now, Sizer has limited herself to one cat – a small kitten she rescued after a co-worker found the 6-week-old kitten covered in ringworm, hiding among the hostas outside the county courthouse complex.
Along with dumped cardboard that she rescues for recycling, Sizer also found the gray calico called Magnolia or “Maggie” irresistible.
