Sustainability
Manufacturers Out of Step with Customers on Repairs
Would you want your livelihood to depend on your daughter’s choice of dance escorts? Don’t laugh. Nathan Proctor has heard anecdotes to that effect in his role with PIRG, a Denver-based federation of state-based public interest research groups. Proctor is the senior director of PIRG’s right-to-repair campaign, which aims to break down the barriers that…
Renters: How to Weatherize Your Home to Reduce Energy Costs
Energy burden is defined as the percentage of gross household income that is spent on energy costs. In some areas of the Kansas City Metropolitan area, residents experience an elevated energy burden. However, some energy costs can be reduced through weatherization. While it may be challenging to tackle as a renter, there are options to…
Watch: Mapping and Managing Energy Burden in Kansas City
Energy burden is defined as the percentage of gross household income that is spent on energy costs. In some areas of the Kansas City Metropolitan area, residents experience an elevated energy burden. We caught up with experts to learn more about how energy burden impacts residents and potential solutions for mitigating the problem.
The Bison that Protect One of Missouri’s Last Prairies
Before European settlement, the place that we call Missouri was home to millions of acres of tallgrass prairie, a grassland biome home to a diverse array of plant and animal species, like bison. Today, less than one percent of it remains. Bison once roamed North America with numbers in the millions. After government-sanctioned mass slaughter…
K-State Professor Designs Biodegradable Garments for Sustainable Deathcare
A professor at Kansas State University aims to tackle that question in a new exhibition on green burial practices. Sherry Haar, fashion studies professor, designed several garments and textiles for burial made from natural fibers and dyes. Haar said she hopes to start a conversation about green burial practices. The exhibition is available to view…
Urban Trees are Dying: Is Climate Change the Culprit?
The approach of fall in our region should mean a picturesque foliage display is also on the way, but more and more Kansas City trees are dying. While it’s uncertain what that could mean for urban foliage photo shoots, fewer urban trees will mean a hotter city if the issue isn’t addressed. “We are anecdotally…
Sheep, Native Plants and Fire Tested as Methods for Managing Invasive Honeysuckle Next to the Blue River
Editor’s Note: Additional information was added into this article to identify the species of bush honeysuckle that impacts Missouri. For information on identifying invasive honeysuckle or other invasive plants, visit the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Website. Something is suffocating Missouri’s forest floors. It’s leafy, it’s dense, it’s pervasive, and it can grow so thick that…
Missouri Business Tests New Net to Catch Invasive Carp Leaping Out of Platte River
A little ripple tears through the muddy water. It’s small. It’s so small, in fact, that coupled with the regular movements of the river, you wouldn’t even notice it – unless you knew what to look for. Within seconds, a silver carp flies out of the water and launches itself several feet into the air….
Kansas City Exceeds Need for Electricians as Green Energy Grows
Naomi Alexander spent two years studying accounting at Missouri Southern State University before deciding it was not the right path for her. When her father, a lifelong sprinkler fitter, suggested she consider a trade career, he “lit a fire” in her, she said. After doing some research, Alexander enrolled in the Missouri Apprentice Ready Program,…
Trash to Treasure: Blue River Facility Will Turn Solid Waste into Natural Gas and Fertilizer
Kansas City is building a new $140 million Blue River Biosolids Facility designed to more efficiently convert solid waste into natural gas and fertilizer.