LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS REP ATTENDS NATIONAL WORKSHOP

Glenda Quinn, a member of the Cape Girardeau County League of Women Voters, recently attended a three-day workshop in Palm Beach, Fla., on municipal solid waste, source reduction and recycling issues.

The Cape Girardeau LWV joined over 40 other leagues from throughout the United States for three days of intensive training. The workshop focused on recycling, source reduction, education and strategies and skills for resolving environmental conflicts.

Also included was a tour of the Palm Beach County Solid Waste Facility. The facility is an integrated plan that includes a landfill, a materials recycling facility, a compost operation, a household hazardous waste collection site, transfer stations, a waste-to-energy facility and offices.

Following the workshop, which also included counseling on grant applications, the LWV Education Fund will award community education grants totalling $25,000. The Cape Girardeau LWV has applied for a grant to educate and encourage reducing and recycling in low-income areas of the city.

The Cape Girardeau Civic Center has agreed to stage a door-to-door campaign along with league members.

"The United States taxpayer spends more than $7 billion a year to collect and dispose of the nation's trash," said Becky Cain, chair of the LWV Education fund. "This amount does not include the costs associated with court battles over what disposal, recycling or source reduction methods to use.

"When you think about it, we are throwing away more than just garbage," she added. "We are throwing away money. The money lost is in the form of disposal fees, legal fees and valuable resources. This has to stop."

The workshop and community education grants are a part of a national education project funded by WMX Technologies and Services Inc. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Blair Industries of Scott City funded a portion of the travel expenses to the workshop for the local league.