Viewpoint: 2025 one to remember for reducing waste in Missoula

Kelli Hess

This Missoula summer was one to remember. The weather barely got above 90 degrees, and we made it through August with few fires and clean, breathable air. We know this won’t be the norm, but we can appreciate it while it lasts.

This summer was also a banner year for Home ReSource and our amazing city, county, and partners in efforts to keep waste out of the landfill and reach our ZERO-by-FIFTY goals.

Working with the Western Montana Fair, we had 170 amazing Green Team volunteers on site every minute of the event, sorting trash into compost and recyclables. We kept a a record 66,000 pounds of compost out of the landfill! While we didn’t quite reach our Zero Waste goal of 90% diversion, we got awfully close and are optimistic that next year will be the year we do it.

Then the Roots Fest also had a record year. This is our seventh year working with the city and Missoula Downtown Partnership to bring in the Green Team. We reduced waste in a big way, keeping three and a half more tons of compostables out of our local landfill.

Additionally, our Household Chemical Disposal Station just completed its first full year of operation. This is our latest venture, where Missoulians can schedule a drop-off of unneeded household chemicals, including oil-based wood stains, mineral spirits, automotive fluids, pesticides, batteries, acids, and products containing mercury, such as thermometers and fluorescent light bulbs. In just one year, we’ve already diverted hundreds of pounds of these materials.

But don’t worry, we are still partnering with Missoula Public Health to host the annual HazWaste Event on Sept. 27. This year, you can get $5 off appointments to drop off and get all that extra stuff out of your garage and basement.

There is no doubt that what is happening in Montana and nationally is scary. Clean air and water regulations are being dismantled, there are significant cuts to renewable energy funding, and even plastics and Styrofoam are making a comeback.

However, here in Missoula, we are making progress, and we can all take great pride in that. We want to thank the City and County for their exceptional leadership in finding innovative solutions to reduce waste. We want to thank businesses like Missoula Compost and Soil Cycle, who make composting easy. We want to thank other nonprofits, such as Climate Smart and Giving Arts to Missoula for doing their part to make a more climate-resilientMissoula for everyone.

With that in mind, we hope you all will come and celebrate with Home ReSource during our annual SponCon Event on Sept. 13. Twenty-five teams will have seven hours to build something from scratch using only materials found in Home ReSource’s store. It’s our favorite day of the year.

If you and your friends are handy, we challenge you to get a crew together and register for a team. If you just want to come and enjoy the day, that’s great too. We will have music, food trucks, Spontaneous Ink with Sleeping Giant Tattoo, games, family activities, and more. Plus, you can watch these teams in action. You will be in awe of what they can create in a day.

We are all fortunate to live in this beautiful place, where so many are working to protect it. Together, we can build a vibrant and sustainable local economy, achieve our ZERO-by-FIFTY waste goals, and because we are Missoulians, we will have a lot of fun doing it.

Kellia Hess is the executive director at Home ReSource