Striving for zero-waste in the museum industry is rare even in today’s climate, when more environmental practices are being introduced within the cultural field. Soldiers Memorial Military Museum located in downtown St. Louis, Missouri is the first museum in the United States to become TRUE zero-waste certified and is the only building in the city of St. Louis to be TRUE certified.

In November of 2015, the Missouri Historical Society entered a public private partnership with the City of St. Louis to bring Soldiers Memorial Military Museum up to 21st century museum standards. With a $30 million renovation of the museum, the Missouri Historical Society focused on universal and sustainable design. During the renovation phase, a strong emphasis was placed on reuse and repair of the existing structure. As construction continued, the team began to heavily focus on reuse, repair, repurpose, redesign, and recycling of building materials along with construction materials. During the construction phase of LEED certification, the team achieved a 75% diversion rate, 95% of the existing building structure and envelope was reused and 50% existing interior non-structural elements were reused. As the museum moved into the operational phase of the project, it was only natural to continue the practice of reuse, repair, repurpose, redesign, and recycling, which led to striving towards a TRUE zero-waste certification. The TRUE zero-waste rating system allowed the Missouri Historical Society to implement more waste practices through a transparent, third-party rating system.

Zero-waste was a new concept for the sustainability team at the Missouri Historical Society, when the organization started the TRUE zero-waste certification we sought out several resources to begin our journey. We soon discovered that we would be the only museum in the United States striving towards a TRUE zero-waste certification and would be essentially creating a path for other museums to begin a zero-waste journey from practices unique to museums.

Waste practices in the museum field are quite different from waste practices within other industries. Museum waste can be challenging due to the detailed measures museum professionals take to preserve and handle artifacts, educate the public while also exhibiting artifacts to the public. Operational waste does not only cover the preservation and exhibiting of artifacts but also waste generated from the public and supporting museum staff. In striving for zero-waste the sustainability team had to look at waste practices from multiple points of generation. This proved to be a challenge since several materials such as nitrile and latex gloves, children’s educational materials, testing strips for environmental monitoring of artifacts needed to either be reduced, reused, or recycled. One of the first areas that we tackled was finding vendors to recycle our nitrile and latex gloves, since this was one of the most heavily used items within our organization besides paper. After we successfully found vendors to handle our most heavily used operational items, we slowly started to look at reducing our waste practices by taking steps to not unnecessarily generate waste that we would have to later find ways to reuse, repurpose or recycle in the future.

In our journey to zero-waste, the Missouri Historical Society gained a greater appreciation for materials and the process of acquiring operational materials. Through the TRUE zero-waste certification process we understood the value of not only tangible materials but the value of intangible resources that goes into the producing, packaging, and transporting of materials used within the museum industry. Although the zero-waste certification proved to be a challenge to implement at the Missouri Historical Society, the social and environmental impact far outweighed the challenge of completing the first zero-waste certification for the museum industry within the United States.

About the Author:

Angela A. Moore is the Manager of Sustainability Initiatives at the Missouri Historical Society. Angela oversees sustainable operations, initiatives and programs for the Missouri Historical Society sites, Missouri History Museum, Library & Research Center and Soldiers Memorial Military Museum. This role has led Angela to nurture a keen interest in building professional and community networks to further sustainable practices in the museum field.

At the Missouri Historical Society, Angela gathers statistical data to analyze and gain a greater understanding of the organization’s sustainable practices and its social and environmental effect not only on the St. Louis community, but on communities across America. Angela’s work is primarily led by statistical data, current innovations within the built environment and a strong desire to preserve history and culture for future generations.

Angela's educational background includes a Master’s degree in Public Policy Administration and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Missouri-St. Louis in Missouri. With a graduate certificate in Nonprofit Management and Leadership along with recognition as a LEED AP O+M and TRUE Advisor, Angela uses her educational background to bridge organizations and increase sustainable practices in the museum field. Angela serves on the Board of Directors for the US Green Building Council-Missouri Gateway Chapter, American Alliance of Museums' Environment and Climate Professional Network and Missouri Coalition for the Environment.

In the past five years with the Missouri Historical Society, Angela has completed three LEED certifications for historical buildings owned and operated by the Missouri Historical Society and one TRUE certification within one of the historical sites owned by the City of St. Louis and operated by the Missouri Historical Society.