How to keep trash out of Kansas City’s landfills: 10 tips from a sustainability expert
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Let’s talk trash
Readers across the Kansas City metro kept asking us about trash: Is recycling really recycled? What’s up with all the trash on the highways? And where does our trash actually go when we throw it away? We’re digging in — literally.
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Editor’s note: This story is part of The Star’s series “Talking Trash.” All of the stories were inspired by questions and concerns we heard from Kansas Citians through listening sessions, an online callout and other conversations in our community. You can share thoughts in the form at the bottom of this story, or email kcq@kcstar.com.
How often do you take out the trash?
The answer may reveal more about your lifestyle than you think.
As the handful of landfills serving the metro area continue to fill, city public works director Michael Shaw says that Kansas Citians are throwing out more trash than in previous years — a trend that began in tandem with the pandemic, but has yet to subside.
As the Kansas City area reckons with its waste disposal needs, we heard from readers wondering about all the ways to keep trash out of local landfills.
Some reached out with questions about recycling and composting, while others wondered how to meet the city’s two-bag trash limit.
John Fish, a manager at the Red Bridge Community Recycling Center and member of the local environmental group Bridging the Gap, laid out some tips for how to throw away as little as possible.
Buy used, not new
Part of reducing the waste that heads to the landfill is saving perfectly good items from the waste stream. Fish recommended shopping for secondhand clothing, adding that textile waste is a growing problem around the world as fabrics are difficult to recycle.
You can also reduce waste by donating your used belongings to thrift stores rather than throwing them away. While you’re there, pick up some perfectly good used items instead of buying them brand new — this will allow you to avoid contributing to the waste produced by manufacturing a new product.
Buy to last
Whether it’s a well-made jacket or a sturdy kitchen appliance, buying things meant to last is a key way to prevent landfill waste. Cheap, poorly made clothing and housewares will need to be thrown out and replaced regularly, contributing to landfill volume.
“Don’t impulse buy, don’t buy something just because it’s trendy or you think it’s cute right at the moment,” Fish said. “Buy the stuff that you can see yourself wearing for years, and years to come, and buy quality.”
If you can afford it, investing in possessions that will last for years can save you money in the long run, and have a significant impact on the waste you produce.
Repair rather than discard
Have you ever thrown something away because of a stain, a rip or a small flaw? Repairing what you already own rather than buying something brand new can keep your possessions out of the waste stream. This can mean taking clothes to the tailor or electronics to a repair shop.
Fish also advised keeping repairability in mind when shopping for new items. If something takes expert knowledge to fix, it may not be as wise an investment as something you can repair on your own with easily available parts and a few online tutorials.
Avoid single-use disposables
The convenience of disposable items like tableware, coffee cups, cameras, rain ponchos and so much more can’t be disputed. But with just a little extra forethought, you can keep these items out of the landfill by avoiding them altogether.
“Single use plates and utensils and things like that, none of that stuff is recyclable,” Fish said. “So switch as much as possible to reusable things and avoid… the short-term use items.”
Consider bringing a reusable travel mug to the coffee shop or investing in cloth napkins and tablecloths rather than their disposable alternatives. Investing in a set of lightweight, sturdy plastic plates and cups that can be washed and reused indefinitely can reduce the waste you throw away after your next picnic.
Bring your own packaging
Bring-your-own-container shops are great places to practice a waste-free lifestyle, Fish told The Star. Learn more about zero-waste businesses in Kansas City here. You can also bring your own reusable shopping bags anywhere you like to save plastic and paper.
Shopping in bulk offers another opportunity to bring your own containers. Save bottles, jars and tubs from the trash at home and refill them at the store instead of using the containers provided. This will keep two containers out of the landfill every time you refill.
Shop for packaging as well as product
Should you buy the hot chocolate mix wrapped in a dozen single-serving, non-recyclable plastic packets? Or should you buy the brand that packages those servings all together in a cute glass bottle?
Fish told The Star that personal waste reduction starts with what you pick off the shelf at the store or add to your cart online. Consider opting for the product in reusable or recyclable packaging rather than the one in a container you’ll have to send to the landfill.
Avoid letting food spoil
“It’s important to buy smart, make sure that you’re actually going to eat what you bought, that it’s not going to go to waste,” Fish said.
“There’s a tremendous amount of food that’s… literal waste where people buy too much and it just spoils before they get around to eating it. There’s a huge opportunity to reduce that — particularly in restaurants, but in people’s homes, too.”
Spoiled, rotten and expired food is a huge source of food waste — and it’s largely preventable. Buying slightly under-ripe produce, limiting the number of perishable goods you buy and opting for shelf-stable or frozen foods that will last indefinitely are all great ways to avoid throwing food in the trash.
Compost food waste
Composting doesn’t just keep organic matter out of the landfill: Fish noted that it also repurposes the nutrients from food waste to be returned to the soil.
If you’d rather not maintain your own home composting operation, there are plenty of options around Kansas City that can take care of the process for you — including several curbside compost collection services.
Some local municipalities are even launching their own composting initiatives. The city of Olathe currently runs a popular food waste dropoff site, and the city of Kansas City is working on rolling out a similar program later this year.
Hold manufacturers accountable
When thinking about reducing waste, it’s important to consider who produces the products we throw away in the first place. Ultimately, consumers have limited choices: It’s manufacturers who decide what will be available on the shelves.
“We don’t require manufacturers to design for recyclability, to design for minimizing packaging,” Fish said — but we could.
If you’re interested in dialing down our dependence on landfills, contact your lawmakers or vote with your dollar to require manufacturers to make their products long-lasting, repairable and minimally packaged.
Finally, recycle what you can
This tip comes last for a reason. Fish told The Star that many people “overemphasize the importance of recycling” when really, reducing what they discard in the first place is far more important.
“Recycling asks the least of us as far as changing the way we live,” he said. “When you look at the actual impact of the choices we make, the great majority occur before we ever lay eyes on put our hands on something that we buy. They’re upstream of where we are.”
But when you can’t avoid or divert waste before you need to get rid of it, recycling is still a better option than sending something to a landfill. Check out our recent deep dive into how recycling really works in the metro, and find the answers to some common recycling questions here.
Do you have more questions about waste disposal in Kansas City? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.
This story was originally published May 10, 2023 at 6:30 AM.
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