Each year, MARC’s Air and Water Quality programs conduct public awareness surveys to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs’ annual public awareness campaigns and outreach initiatives. In the last few years, MARC staff have included several climate change questions in these surveys to identify overall trends in concern for climate change, level of priority placed...
MARC Water Quality hosted two keynote speakers and more than 40 breakout sessions to help attendees meet professional development hour requirements for their certifications. MARC Water Quality, with help from the Kansas Water Environment Association and the Missouri Water Environment Association, hosted the biennial KC Urban Stormwater Conference at the Hyatt Place Lenexa Conference Center....
On December 9, a group of energized individuals gathered at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to take part in the Resilient Success Stories Event. With a packed house, participants heard 12 stories from around the region: The Merriam Residential Sustainability Grant, Kompas Kapital’s refurbished headquarters building, Kansas City Public Library Climate Action Dashboard, Lee’s Summit Green Infrastructure improvement program, The HCA Nature Action Crew, Big Shoal Farm, Mission Conservation Improvement program, Johnson County Watershed Master Plan, Johnson County Park & Recreation Districts Forest Restoration, The Tomahawk Creek Water Treatment Facility, The KCMO Neighborhood Clean Up Program and KCMO's Climate Resiliency Protection Plan.
There will be a lot of action in 2023! Here are highlights of some of the projects, planning and programs that will be kicking off next year. We invite you to share your thoughts, ideas or resources on any of the projects. Community Water Infrastructure Program/ ARPA A local partnership involving Kansas City, Mo., Jackson...
KC Plogtober celebrated its second-ever event last weekend with over one hundred "ploggers" turning out at 13 sites across eight municipalities to pick up litter at their favorite parks and trails.
Congratulations to Team Clay County (pictured), who brought home the "Top Plogger" award, providing almost half of the total cleanup volunteers! Another noteworthy accomplishment was the team from Raytown, MO, who had the largest single-site turnout on the Rock Island Trail.
MARC Water Quality, and a host of partner organizations will hold this year’s KC Plogtober on Sunday, October 16. The program’s goal is to get local volunteers to appreciate their local watersheds more by realizing that the litter on the heavily-trafficked public-use ground eventually winds up in our streams and rivers. "Plogging" is a Swedish concept that translates to picking up litter while jogging.
Registration for volunteers is open now. Be sure to visit KCPlogtober.com for more information and to sign up. Each county will have multiple streamside trails and public greenspaces to choose from, or volunteers can go solo and pick a location close by for a "virtual plog".
Momentum is building throughout the Kansas City region
to transform our community in ways that create greater levels of sustainability and climate resilience. To embrace and accelerate positive change, the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and Climate Action KC will highlight selected local or regional Resilient Success Stories at the Kauffman Foundation on the morning of Dec. 2, 2022.
Van Horn High School senior Jose Saenz-Olivas received the Sustainability Challenge Award at Project Lead the Way’s Biomedical Research & Design Competition this Spring for his capstone “The Effect of Climate Change on Local Aquatic Life: How Expected Increases in Precipitation and Pesticide Runoff May Affect Missouri Crustaceans”. The Independence School District student reported on...
The Kansas City Plogtober Cleanup is a great way to get outdoors and get some exercise while engaging in a socially responsible activity that beautifies the streamside trails in your community. The pandemic has taxed our wastewater systems and polluted our streams with unflushable tissues, wipes, gloves, masks and other personal protective equipment. If that wasn’t...
