JCCC Center for Sustainability

05/28/2026

Repair Café & Clothing Swap: Saturday, June 6, 9am-1pm. Event will be held at Tomahawk Ridge Community Center; 11902 Lowell Ave., Overland Park, KS 66213-1100. Items that can be fixed at this event: Bikes
Clothing/textiles (no alterations, please)
Computers (Virus/malware removal, file transfers, other basic repairs)
Electronics
Jewelry
Lamps
Small appliances (e.g., replacing cords on handmixers, toasters, irons, etc.)

, Sat, Jun 6 2026, 9am - 1pm

05/22/2026

Today is the last day of school for many kids throughout Kansas City. Make sure to recycle what you can- papers, non-plastic folders, and notebooks (remove the metal rings first). And donate any usable school supplies to our friends at Scraps KC where they will be made available to teachers and students next school year. Have a great Summer!!

05/18/2026

The 9Rs of Circularity provide a practical blueprint for this shift:

1️⃣ Refuse – Eliminate unnecessary consumption at the source
2️⃣ Rethink – Redesign systems for efficiency and longevity
3️⃣ Reduce – Minimize resource use without reducing value
4️⃣ Reuse – Extend the life of products through repeated use
5️⃣ Repair – Restore instead of replace
6️⃣ Refurbish – Upgrade existing products for renewed value
7️⃣ Remanufacture – Rebuild products using recovered components
8️⃣ Repurpose – Transform old materials into new functions
9️⃣ Recycle – Recover materials when no other option remains

Each step moves us further away from extraction and closer to regeneration.

05/05/2026

Peak Migration Window: In the overnight hours, an estimated 548 million birds were on the move according to the Cornell Labs BirdCast. Much of New York State was under a “High” Lights Out Alert Level. Why turn off the lights? It helps reduce collision risk by lowering the skyglow and attracting fewer birds into heavily illuminated urban areas. It also improves habitat quality by keeping nocturnal environments darker for resting birds near stopover areas. The symphony of birdie chirps has been getting better each day, Spring is in the air!

04/23/2026

“Sell by” is a message to the retailer. It tells the grocery store how long to keep the product on the shelf. It says nothing about whether the food is safe to eat after that date.

“Best by” is about quality, not safety. It’s the manufacturer’s estimate of when the product will be at its peak flavor or texture. Neither is an expiration date. Neither means the food is bad.

Knowing what your food label is telling you about your food's expiration date could save you hundreds in grocery bills each year.

04/22/2026

Spring migration has been happening for some time now, songbirds primarily migrate by night and researchers think they may use the stars to guide them. ⭐

You can help the migrating birds navigate better at light by practicing "lights out", simply turn your outdoor lights off and draw the curtains over your windows at night so the indoor lights don't shine out.

You can make your outdoor lights more bird friendly by keeping them on a timer so they shut off around 11pm, reduce the brightness, or have them down-shielded. Down-shielding is when the light only shines directly below it, so that birds flying above won't see it.

04/22/2026

Lights out for the birds!
A lot of birds migrate during the night; turning off outdoor lights and closing curtains will help the birds during their journey.

**Lights Out Alert**

The migration highway will be directly overhead on Thursday night. This should bring us our first massive migration night over Indiana, Michigan and Ohio this season. While we have had some good migration nights in recent weeks, we have not had a night in the 5-10+ million range for Indiana, Michigan and Ohio yet. We may hit that threshold tonight, but Thursday night should be the biggest night of the week. The first warblers are now starting to arrive. A lot of Baltimore Orioles are returning to the area, and hummingbirds are migrating during the daylight hours. This lights out map is produced by Purdue University with data from BirdCast. Their message is that you can help keep birds safe on their migration by limiting outdoor light pollution. This especially the case over the next few nights.

04/20/2026

JCCC has been recognized by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education as a recipient of a 2026 Sustainability Award, honoring outstanding achievements in higher education sustainability. JCCC received the award for its innovative Sustainability Distinction Program.

“The customizable nature of the program—and its ability to be added to any degree path—has allowed nearly 70 students from a variety of academic backgrounds to participate since Spring 2025," said Dr. Rachael Rost-Allen, program advisor.

As the program continues to grow, the JCCC Center for Sustainability hopes to inspire even more students and serve as a model for other colleges and universities. Read more about the award and the Sustainability Distinction Program: https://ow.ly/LCFm50YKKji