There was no such word as “environmentalism” 500 years ago. Nonetheless, the Kansas City Renaissance Festival will be a whole lot greener when it kicks off this weekend.

The festival, which runs weekends from Saturday through Oct. 14, plus Labor Day and Columbus Day, will recycle cans, cardboard and plastic bottles for the first time.

Carrie Shoptaw, manager of the festival, estimated there would be about 10 tons of such recyclables this year.

“It’s a big experiment for us,” Shoptaw said. “I know we’ll have a big learning curve.”

Shoptaw said the festival sold about 156,000 plastic bottles, and 10,000 aluminum cans were bought at the festival last year, which helps explain the 10-ton figure. Additionally, she said, all the food and beverages sold there come in cardboard boxes, which add up.

The festival’s new recycling venture is a collaboration among Deffenbaugh Industries, Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. and Bridging The Gap, a nonprofit recycling center.

“It’s one thing we’re really proud of,” Shoptaw said.

In addition to the recycling program, the Renaissance Festival will feature offerings that, while not entirely new, are either refreshed or were absent last year.

The most visible of these will be the Vulgarians, a nouveau-riche English family who decide to attack Canterbury, and will be looking to marry off their daughter, Princess Petronella.

The Vulgarians, who sport other, whimsical names such as King Salmonella and Minister of War Portabella, started out as a street act at the festival, Shoptaw said.

“It just got funnier and funnier and funnier,” Shoptaw said. “The guests just absolutely loved it.”

In order to marry off Petronella, the festival will feature each day a “Mr. Renaissance Romance” contest.

“It’s our idea of a beauty pageant for boys,” Shoptaw said. “We take guests from our shows and hoodwink them into coming onstage. The point is that Petronella is auditioning her fiances. It’s one of the most popular shows we’ve done.”