Solid Waste Welcomes New Recycling Coordinator Melody Tuschel

Monroe County Library System’s Community Affairs Manager Nancy Klingener, Solid Waste Recycling Coordinator Melody Tuschel, and Cheryl Alfonso with the 16th Circuit Court partnered to bring reading materials to the Key West courthouse juror’s room. Tuschel will restore the supply in the nooks with retired books from the Monroe County Public Library System. Additional nooks will be coming soon at other public buildings throughout the county.

​MONROE COUNTY – Monroe County Solid Waste recently filled its open Recycling Coordinator and Outreach position with Melody Tuschel, who previously worked at Monroe County’s Cudjoe Key waste transfer station.
 
“Melody is extremely environmentally conscious and is really passionate about our recycling initiative,” said Solid Waste Director Cheryl Sullivan. “She is going to bring a wealth of knowledge and education to our County residents, visitors, and businesses.”
 
Tuschel is completing her bachelor’s degree in sustainability and green resources, and her main goal is to promote environmental sustainability and social responsibility.
 
Recently, working with the Monroe County Public Library System, she created a program to recycle older books from the library by creating reading nooks in public buildings where people can take a book they would like to read to keep or pass along to someone else. Some other projects she is working on include repurposing marine debris, reducing single-use plastics and Styrofoam, and pushing for more compostable items.
 
“I think my biggest goal is to bust the myth that Monroe County doesn’t recycle,” Tuschel said. “I have been to the facility, I have worked at the transfer station, and if we recycle properly, we make a difference every day.”
 
To learn more about recycling in the Florida Keys, visit www.monroecounty-fl.gov/recycle.