MoDOT will handing out pine saplings at the No More Trash booth! Other festivities at the event includeinformation booths, games and displays about the environment.
But to MoDOT everyday is Earth Day. Here are some things the department does year round to be a good steward to our planet.
The Big Wows
When you think of environmentally friendly practices, building roads and bridges might not pop into mind. Yet the Missouri Department of Transportation is winning awards for giving back to the environment. Consider this:
- MoDOT uses more ethanol and biodiesel fuel a year - three million gallons of E-85 and B20 - than all other state agencies combined. That’s enough gas to drive a car to Mars and back.
- In 2007, MoDOT used more than three million tons of asphalt containing recycled material – about the weight of all the people in Missouri, Kansas, Iowa, Arkansas, Illinois, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Tennessee combined.
- In the past four years, the agency has kept more than 3.6 billion pounds of waste from going to landfills. That’s equivalent to the amount of household waste generated in a year by the entire metropolitan St. Louis area.
- MoDOT has used enough recycled tires in its construction projects over the past two years to equip 20,000 cars.
- In the past four years, MoDOT has used enough recycled shingles to roof 305 houses.
- MoDOT crews clean up more than 80,000 car tires – about 600 tons – that are left on state highways every year. These tires are ground up and used in fuel for power plants.
- Under the Trees for Tomorrow program, MoDOT and its partner, the Missouri Department of Conservation, is providing half a million trees a year to youth groups throughout the state through 2012. The program helps replace trees taken down during highway construction.
- When designing projects MoDOT keeps sensitive species and habitats in mind. In 2007, 15 projects were completed using measures to ensure the safety of nine protected species.
- MoDOT replaced wetlands at a rate of three acres to one on projects built in 2007.
- To conserve energy and paper, MoDOT has begun providing project plans via the Internet, a move that will save about $200,000 a year.
Trial Initiatives
- MoDOT is testing soy-based paint to see how it works for highway striping.
- The department is using an anti-icing product made from sugar beets to help keep roads clear and cut down on the amount of salt used.
Awards
- Missouri State Recycling Award, 2007
- PR News Overall Leader in Corporate Social Responsibility, 2007
- Missouri Recycling Association’s Outstanding Use of Recycled Material award, 2008
