This Group is Saving the Kansas River from Tons of Trash

By | December 11, 2024
Friends of the Kaw’s trained volunteers pull tires out of the Kansas River between Eudora and De Soto in October. A Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks game warden helps ferry the tires away by boat.

Bill Hughes has his eyes on a hot tub. The Valley Falls resident isn’t planning a bathroom remodel, though. He’s part of a volunteer group that helps clean up the Kansas River. The hot tub is lodged in the river bottom and it’s too large to lug away. It pops into view during dry spells, when…

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The Bison that Protect One of Missouri’s Last Prairies

By | November 27, 2024
A photo of a bison herd standing atop a brown and green grass landscape. There are seven bison in the foreground, They are brown and large, with fur and horns. The sky behind them is bright blue.

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…

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Mum’s The Word on the Solar Farm at Kansas City Airport

By | November 12, 2024
A rendering of a natural gas burning plant Evergy plans to build in Sumner County, Kansas.

Area residents flying to and from home may wonder about the fate of the gleaming solar farm at Kansas City International Airport promised a year ago by Kansas City officials and Evergy. The short answer is that attorneys for the city and the consortium Evergy assembled to build the project are still working on the…

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K-State Professor Designs Biodegradable Garments for Sustainable Deathcare

By | November 1, 2024
A photo of a museum exhibition. At the left of the photo, a mannequin stands with a light yellow gown and a white veil over its head. The veil is peppered with light brown floral prints. On top of the mannequins head is a crown of prairie grass. To the right of the mannequin with the gown, and in the center of the photo is a coffin cover. The cover depicts an angel in a blue gown with white wings. She is depicted standing in the prairie, covered in prairie flowers. Off to the right side of the photograph is a mannequin lying flat, covered in a blue burial garment.

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…

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Citizen Scientists in the Midwest Help Experts Gather Environmental Data

By | October 18, 2024
A person bends down and submurges a clear bottle into a green creek. They are wearing black boots. There are orange leaves scattered around them.

A new policy brief from the United Nations argues that citizen science is crucial to global water security. Ground and surface water are facing increasing threats from pollution and climate change, and scientists need help. Citizen science, which is done by non-professional scientists, is part of the solution, according to the report. And it’s happening…

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