In Kansas City, preparations are already underway to welcome an estimated 650,000 visitors from around the world for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. This event will bring energy, excitement and increased demand across the city. Food waste strains landfill capacity and increases disposal costs. This influx of visitors is sure to put a strain on our local waste disposers and food establishments.

Composting has become as essential to Green Dirt’s operation as sourcing local ingredients. And they’re encouraging others to join them.

How KC businesses, event hosts and municipalities should prepare for increased demand, global expectations, and a major surge in food and organic waste

Whether you’re just getting started or have been composting for years, chances are you’ve paused over the bin and wondered: “Can I compost this?”

Composting isn't just for gardeners or green thumbs. It's one of the most powerful actions we can each take to fight climate change and restore the health of our local soils.

Guest Contributor: Georgetown University Student, Diya Gundlapalli

If you’re local to Kansas City, you’re likely getting pumped up for Super Bowl Sunday and the chance to see the Chiefs win yet again!

If you’re reading this, it’s likely you already consider climate change to be a serious problem. But even if–or especially if–that’s the case, you might feel like the conversations around environmentalism to be a lot of doom and gloom.

You may recall the campaign a few years ago urging us all to give up drinking straws because they’re killing the sea turtles.

Let’s be real: even though Americans use 500 million drinking straws per day, this is far from the biggest part of the problem when it comes to ocean plastic. The people behind that campaign chose it not because drinking straws are the biggest contributor, but because it’s the “gateway drug” of zero wasting. Reducing or eliminating straws from your life is a great, easy first step.

Some things are so ingrained in our routines that we never think to question if there’s another way. Paper towels are one of those things.

Don’t panic: if you’re totally in love with your paper towels, you can keep using them and no one will think less of you for it–that is, as long as you remember that they’re compostable and you dispose of them appropriately! Especially when it comes to gross messes, sometimes it’s nice to clean up with something that you can just toss when you’re done.