The Kansas City Beacon: The growing green jobs industry could mean more jobs for Kansas Citians
KC Can Compost’s Green Core Training program equips students with the knowledge and tools they need to secure jobs in the green economy.
Before securing a position as a manager at KC Can Compost, a nonprofit dedicated to reshaping Kansas City’s approach to environmental and social causes, Chris Shelar was unhoused off and on for eight years.
Now 60, Shelar lived in outdoor spaces and panhandled for change to get by. Eventually, he found steady work as a cook with Shelter KC: A Kansas City Rescue Mission. His job in the kitchen led to his connection with KC Can Compost, which pursues a dual mission of diverting food and other organic waste from landfills while providing jobs for people who face barriers for employment.
Shelar’s first post with the nonprofit was as a member of its board. “At first I was on their board of directors to represent the homeless and the mission of Shelter KC,” he said. “And the more I became involved on the board, the more I became interested and I really wanted to help any way I could.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, Shelar volunteered to drive a KC Can truck to pick up food waste, which gets put back into soil to grow healthy foods. Eventually Shelar enrolled in KC Can’s Green Core Training program, which prepares people who face barriers to employment for jobs in the environmental sector.
“After I got involved in the class, it just became very interesting,” Shelar said. “And it opened my eyes to a lot of environmental issues and environmental injustice that we have.”
Green jobs are employment opportunities in the growing movement to lower greenhouse emissions and protect the environment. According to Kansas City’s Climate Protection & Resilience Plan, investment in clean energy provides three times as many jobs as investment in fossil fuels.
Groups like KC Can Compost see green jobs as a natural fit for people who are turned away by other industries because they didn’t finish school or have histories of housing instability, addiction, incarceration and other difficulties.
“These green jobs are kind of for all skill levels and education levels,” said Adison Banks, one of two directors of Green Core Training.
Examples of green jobs include installing solar panels, working on wind farms, working with food waste and recycling.
“A lot of these jobs provide on-the-job training if you don’t have experience, and a lot of these jobs don’t require a college degree, which opens up doors for people,” Banks said.
According to Kansas City’s Climate Protection & Resilience Plan, fewer than 25% of employees in these fields have a bachelor’s degree.
The plan, which the Kansas City Council passed in 2022, commits the city to a 100% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from electricity consumption by 2030, as well as prioritizing climate protection in city government decisions.
“This curriculum really opens people’s eyes to what our future could look like, how we can transform our entire society to make it so that we’re not destroying the planet and hurting people and killing people,” Banks said. “How can we have jobs that nurture the planet and keep people healthy?”
Green Core Training
KC Can Compost launched in 2019 and started Green Core Training in 2021. In its first year, Green Core Training worked exclusively with people who were unhoused or have previously dealt with houselessness.
The program has since expanded to include formerly incarcerated men and youth aging out of foster care. It is working on plans to provide training to specific neighborhoods along the Troost Avenue corridor in 2023.
By Mili Mansaray