Springfield's Noble Hill Sanitary Landfill is a 1,200 acre space northwest of town, but only about 200 acres of it is used as waste disposal cells. OHRD toured the landfill in October with City of Springfield Environmental Services Educational Outreach Coordinator Laurie Davis and Market Development Coordinator Ashley Krug. Click the image below to view full-size gallery photos from the tour.
Photos by Diana Dudenhoeffer
Guests on the tour learned about the contents of a landfill, which grows larger by 1,200 to 1,600 tons every single day. Many people do not know that today's landfills are much more than just a hole in the ground where we dump trash. Noble Hill has several important systems in place, like leachate collection and filtration, prepped and compacted soil, filters, gas collection and groundwater monitoring, that help maintain the space so it interferes with nature as little as possible.
Everything humans do has an impact on the planet, and landfills will always be here in one way or another—but there's still a lot individual residents can do to lessen their footprints.
Davis and Krug reminded the tour's guests to reduce, reuse and recycle when possible, and to treat the landfill as a last resort for waste.
OHRD tours waste management projects, gardens, nonprofits, etc. regularly! Find out how you can be involved by contacting Planner Angie Snyder at asnyder@greenecountymo.gov or by calling the OHRD office at (417) 868-4197.
About the Author
Diana Dudenhoeffer is a multimedia journalist from Springfield, Missouri. She studied journalism, sustainability and documentary storytelling at Missouri State University. She is the current media intern at OHRD, writing blogposts like this one.