Provo woman praised for her 'can-do' attitude

Mae Roberts likes to collect cans.

The 71-year-old Provo resident, who has been recycling cans and donating the proceeds to Primary Children's Hospital for 17 years, has been honored with the Individual Recycler of the Year Award by the Recycling Coalition of Utah.

"I feel good," she said. "And it keeps me in good shape."

Roberts pulls a wagon around Provo five to six miles a day, collecting cans from neighbors and friends. Last year she gathered approximately 56,000 cans and donated more than $725 to Primary Children's.

"That's a lot of cans for one little frail lady to collect," said Roy Peterman, a neighbor of Roberts who was also attending the recycling conference where she was honored. "Her diligence is profound. I always see Mae out walking."

Roberts began donating soon after moving to Provo in 1977. She said she promised the Lord that if he helped her get out of debt she would give the hospital $100 a year. She started by collecting pennies and then moved on to cans, but she hasn't gone back on her promise.

"Mae's a true example of integrity. She said she was going to do it, and she did it," Peterman said. "There aren't many people out there that do that."

Cache Valley's David Little received the Business Recycler of the Year Award at the same conference for his development of a machine that recycles contaminated plastic. It is estimated that 5 million pounds of plastic will be diverted annually from landfills in Utah because of his technology.

"It's been great," Little said. "I wasn't too involved in environmental issues, but now I'm getting caught up in all this. It's been a very rewarding experience."

And although he's approaching his 66th birthday, he has no plans to retire any time soon.

"Now that I can afford to retire and I should retire and I get pressured to retire, I don't want to," he said. "I'm having too much fun."

The two awards were part of the Recycling Coalition of Utah's Annual Conservation and Recycling Exposition last week at the Salt Lake Community College Miller Campus. The goal of the conference, which drew 89 attendees this year, is to raise awareness of recycling issues throughout the state, said coalition executive director Brad Mertz.

"It gets people involved and excited, because they can look at what's being done," Mertz said. "Recycling is alive and well in Utah, but there's still a lot more we can do. And it's really a grassroots effort."

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