About BTG

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Our Mission

Bridging The Gap works to make the Kansas City region sustainable by connecting environment, economy and community.

Bridging The Gap seeks to educate citizens, businesses and government on the impact of decisions and behavior on our present and future community and world. The cornerstone for our success in raising awareness and changing behaviors is finding common ground we all share.

Today, BTG has evolved to include individuals, businesses and governments on both sides of the state line. Working with approximately 2,600 volunteers each year, we take action to make our world, region and community green, healthy and sustainable.

 Bridging The Gap Brochure

Resource Preservation

  • Operating three Community Recycling Centers which divert 2,611 tons of materials from landfills each year
  • Planting and caring for over 1,395 trees in the urban community forest with Heartland Tree Alliance
  • Removing over 90 tons of litter from the streets and planting 23 native gardens with Keep Kansas City Beautiful
  • Preserving 11 sites of undeveloped land by planting native seeds, removing invasive plants and reintroducing native species with Kansas City WildLands

Business Sustainability

  • Connecting 800 business professionals to share sustainable practices through monthly meetings of the Environmental Excellence Business Network
  • Supporting environmentally-friendly commuting options at UMKC through Clean Commute
  • Connecting 13 businesses for waste-sharing through By-Product Synergy

Education & Community Leadership

  • Conducting environmental workshops for government leaders and citizens at Shadowcliff Retreat Center, an eco-friendly mountain lodge in Grand Lake, Colorado
  • Providing more than 100 trained speakers to educate the community through our Speaker’s Bureau
  • Engaging thousands to take personal action through the Five Green Things campaign
  • Teaching students and parents sustainable commuting with Walking School Bus

Support the good work being done in your local environment! Donate!

Our Principles

As agents of change, we seek to connect businesses, governments and citizens as partners in everything we do. We strive to accept people and organizations where they are and model what it means to think like a partner. We believe it is important to recognize and affirm good work as change occurs. We desire to create a metropolitan region that becomes a model for sustainable decision making.

Our History

In 1991, Bridging The Gap (BTG) opened Kansas City's first volunteer-staffed Community Recycling Center. A year later, we organized as a 501(c)(3) agency with the mission: To encourage local and global understanding of our interconnectedness and to develop this understanding through community education and action.

We soon became a coordinating hub for many diverse environmental projects - from waste prevention to environmental education, from recycling to picking up litter and keeping Kansas City beautiful. Over the years, we've been named "Kansas City's local environmental organization."

 BTG office map