Bromley Hall Recycling
Bromley Hall benefits from the Feed the Thing program. Large toters (big blue trash cans on wheels) are stationed near the dumpsters, where students can recycle their recyclables.
Search tips:
Bromley Hall benefits from the Feed the Thing program. Large toters (big blue trash cans on wheels) are stationed near the dumpsters, where students can recycle their recyclables.
Meredith Moore and Tyler Swanson of iSEE met with Alicia Freter of the ACES Study Abroad office on August 31st to discuss options for developing a carbon offset program for students studying abroad in the college of ACES.
Highlights from the conversation include beginning the program by having students volunteer for iSEE in lieu of purchasing carbon offsets. Providing students studying abroad with Eco-Ambassador training was also discussed, with the idea that trained Eco-Ambassadors could lead iSEE sponsored events. The most equitable way to offset carbon emissions is still being discussed.
Lucy Nifong, with the Student Sustainability Committee, shared the attached slides with campus sustainability staff, for an upcoming sustainability leadership workshop at UIUC.
Attached is the SSC Fall 2022 Massmail.
On September 6th, the Zero Waste iCAP team met to review the Zero Waste iCAP 2020 chapter and to discuss team-related goals for the upcoming year.
Meeting minutes are attached.
Following review by the iCAP Working Group, the iWG recommends that the ZW007 Composting Strategies recommendation be transmitted to iSEE:
"Because these discussions are at the beginning stages in various formats and topics, the iWG recommends that iSEE collaborate with the Zero Waste iCAP Team to plan and host a discussion/symposium/workshop in FY23 to share knowledge about composting programs, efforts, and strategies for campus and the community. A review of known solutions from other places and an assessment of anticipated costs for composting strategies should be included, and include presentations from experts on best practices."
See the submittal of ZW007 Composting Strategies here.
The attached link is an article detailing research that paper recycling rates are much lower than industry estimates.
In Spring of 2022, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign became a Supporting Member for the Northeast Recycling Council’s (NERC).
As an Advisory Member, we are invited to:
See the included link to view the newsletter from the Office of Coroporate Relations.
Please see attached.
The attached files include a 2017 SEDAC report and some of Karl Helmink's notes for Memorial Stadium's retrocommissioning.
Dana Kirk, Associate Professor at Michigan State University, presented a webinar on May 31, 2022 titled "Universities go green! A case study from the Michigan State University South Campus Anaerobic Digester", which also featured Marcello Pibiri, Senior Research Engineer at Energy Resources Center UIC.
In case you missed the live webinar or if you would like to view the recorded session again, go to https://register.gotowebinar.com/recording/7048417514261610508. You can register with your name and email to watch the recording. Also attached is the presentation by Dana Kirk from this webinar.
Marcello and his team at ERC organize the New Technical Education & Analysis for Community Hauling and Anaerobic Digesters (TEACH AD) Program to educate people about Anaerobic Digesters.
Click here to read the "Our Campus Composts" case review of institutions that compost, per the Composting Council in 2018-2019.
On May 24, Sarthak Prasad met with Gabe Lewis to talk about EVs. Gabe is the Transportation Planner at the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission (CCRPC) and he currently leads the RPC Tech Committee which consists of 7 members – Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, Rantoul, St. Joseph, Mahomet, and Champaign County. Most recently, they had been talking about the feasibility of EVs in urban as well as the rural areas in the county.
We talked about the US DOT's Charging Forward, an EV toolkit, that is primarily focused on EV Charging in the rural areas: https://www.transportation.gov/rural/ev/toolkit
We also talked about Clean City Coalition. State of Illinois does not have a coalition, but Chicago has one and we could potentially reach out to them: https://cleancities.energy.gov/coalitions/
https://cleancities.energy.gov/coalitions/chicago
Also discussed the federal funding available through National EV Infrastructure (NEVI), Carbon Reduction Program (CRP), State and Local Planning for Energy (https://maps.nrel.gov/slope/), and EV Pro Lite (https://afdc.energy.gov/evi-pro-lite)
Robert O'Daniell met with Morgan and me on Friday, May 13, 2022. We talked about the following topics:
Robert also provided some documents that were updated from last meeting with me (Introductory meeting with Robert O'Daniell)
This project will provide a study to investigate the feasibility of installing an Anaerobic Methane Digester in the area of the University’s South Farms to capture renewable energy from beef, sheep and/or dairy cow waste. The study will assess the possibility of an on-site digester at one site, with one digester system of animal waste. The study will identify useful “Waste/Organics to Energy Efforts” using available technology paths and options that match the goals and expectations of the UIUC stakeholders and project team, to deliver to UIUC a “Renewable Energy Waste/Organics to Fuel Study.” We will also include a section to address the goal to pursue carbon offsets in the project. We will use “The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP)” to address greenhouse gas reduction strategies compliance.
The Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) was set up as a funding source for utility conservation projects with less than ten-year payback periods. These can include steam, electricity, chilled water, or water reduction projects, and the savings from utility costs are paid back annually to replenish the fund.
This fund was originally called for in the 2010 iCAP, as the “clean energy fund.” It was established in 2012, with funding from the SSC and the Provost. Within the first year, the President’s Office committed additional funds. According to the RLF Agreement, any grant funds received for RLF projects in campus-funded utility buildings will be allocated entirely to the RLF. Thus, the fund can grow over time. Additionally, the campus agreed to match any additional commitments from the SSC, in the future.
I've attached a PDF below that contains a summary of the e-Book, "Unpacking ESG: 6 Questions You Were Too Afraid to Ask".
see attachment
Ming Kuo recently contributed to an NPR piece that explored the benefits of spending time in nature, noting that getting your daily dose of nature is vital to your well-being.