LETTERS: CAPE RECYCLING HAD ITS BEGINNING IN THE EARLY 1970s

To the editor:

I wanted to give you some background information on the early days of recycling in Cape Girardeau. If Glenda Quinn is the mother of recycling in Cape, then Lorna Cordonnier is the grandmother. She was the faculty advisor to the Eco-Activist Club at Southeast Missouri State University in the early 1970s.

This organization spoke to local businessmen's clubs about the importance of recycling. The members also went before the city council to ask it to set up a recycling center in Cape. The city council was presented with petitions signed by local citizens requesting a recycling center.

The city then established a center on Good Hope. It was staffed by sheltered workshop employees. This recycling center was a drop-off facility only, but it was a start.

Many of us in Cape Girardeau have been recycling since the 1970s, so when the city through Glenda Quinn's insistence established curbside recycling, we were ready.

SHIRLEY A. SEABAUGH

Cape Girardeau