Alice Howenstine, curbside recycling pioneer and Environmental Defenders pillar, dies at 93

Friends and members of the Environmental Defenders of McHenry County remember McHenry resident Alice Howenstine as a person who was instrumental in getting curbside recycling started in the county.

Howenstine died at the age of 93 in her home surrounded by family in the early hours of Christmas Day, her son Chuck Howenstine said.

Before moving to McHenry County in 1970, Howenstine and her husband Bill lived near the Appalachian Mountains in Ohio and Kentucky and spent years camping and involved in outdoor education. Her passion for outdoor education started when she was a child attending summer camp in Cleveland, her family said.

As a devoted Quaker, Howenstine visited Peru and Mexico for community services projects with the American Friends Service Committee.

The Howenstine family moved to a farm near McHenry and started the Pioneer Tree Farm. Alice and Bill quickly became pillars of the Environmental Defenders when they noticed there was no organized recycling.

Alice dedicated herself to weekly recycling drives, collecting bottles, cans and newspapers at the parking lots of train stations and schools around the county, Environmental Defenders President Kim Hankins said.

“It’s a big loss. Her passion, commitment and legacy reached so far,” Hankins said. “Every single Defender will miss her.”

Alice’s efforts were a major reason why the county started curbside recycling, Hankins said.

Hankins described Alice and Bill Howenstine as the “grandparents of conservation” for the county. They were always finding ways to reduce waste with the Environmental Defenders, such as recycling plastic bags and electronics.

McHenry resident Darlene Schlies remembers meeting Alice Howenstine at a recycling drive at the McHenry High School West Campus about 50 years ago. Schlies said she saw Howenstine as her mentor in how to be environmentally conscious.

“She dedicated her life to make the world a better place,” Schlies said.

Howenstine received many awards in her lifetime for her environmentalism, including the Green Earth Award in 2001 from McHenry Women in Action and the Friend of the Earth Award from McHenry County Schools Environmental Education Program in 2007.

Alice and Bill Howenstine also were recognized for their lifetime of work with the Environmental Defenders in 2010 and received the 2007 Peace and Justice Award at the Diversity Day festival in Woodstock. Most recently, the couple was nominated for the 2020 Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame.

“Alice Howenstine is and has been acknowledged for decades as the inspiration, soul and quiet but powerful taskmaster behind the continuing success of McHenry County’s recycling efforts years before the state, county and our local municipalities understood the importance of recycling,” Sierra Club clean water program director Cindy Skrukrud said in her nomination letter for the Illinois Outdoor Hall of Fame.

Alice Howenstine is survived by her husband and three children and their families.