Link to the recording

How can students support waste management on campus?

https://dailyillini.com/life_and_culture-stories/2023/03/17/students-was...

By Lily Perez, Contributing Writer
March 17, 2023

Have you ever placed something in a recycling bin and wondered what happens next? Does it actually get recycled, or does it just get tossed in the landfill without ever being sorted out?

Students said it can be hard to be committed to sustainability when resources to do so are not always clear.

Adeline Hoegberg, junior in FAA, said she does not have a lot of knowledge about where the trash on campus is taken or how big of a difference the University is making with their waste management systems.

“I’ve heard that all of the recycling would just end up in the normal trash,” Hoegberg said.

The Waste Transfer Station in Champaign filters out around 30% of the trash that comes in, but still sends around 50 pounds to the landfill each day. This is not taking into account busier times like holidays and move-in days for students.

The Waste Transfer Station is located just off of St. Mary’s Road in Champaign and takes in trash from all various places on campus. This includes instructional facilities, University Housing, Illini Union and the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics.

Daphne Hulse works as the Facilities & Services zero waste coordinator, a new position focused on decreasing the amount of waste that goes through the University. Hulse works on various outreach projects, including hosting tours of the Waste Transfer Station.

“These tours are a really unique opportunity to illuminate to the broader campus community what goes on after you put something in the bin,” Hulse said.

Adam Soper, senior in FAA, recalled seeing several recycling places on campus but, like many other students, hasn’t heard of the Waste Transfer Station on campus.

“I know all the dorms have dedicated recycling bins,” Soper said. “But I’m not necessarily sure where those get dumped to.”

Another program that Hulse is facilitating in collaboration with Coca-Cola and the DIA is the “Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste” campaign. This campaign has students volunteer at basketball games to encourage recycling at sporting events. The last zero waste basketball game was March 2 and had 100 volunteers.

“(We’re) creating that general awareness for sustainability in an audience with not just students but townies, out of state folks and athletic rivals,” Hulse said.

Despite these programs, it can be hard for students to recycle on campus and even more so on their own where businesses and residencies don’t provide recycling services. Along with a lack of opportunity, some students feel that recycling doesn’t have a huge impact.

“I’m under the strong feeling that you can’t solely rely on us recycling,” Hoegberg said. “It’s more about the corporations if you really want to fix things.”

Soper said he would most likely not see discernible difference in a world without recycling.

“It wouldn’t be a whole lot different because the recycling practices aren’t widespread enough to be making a huge impact on the scale that we’d be able to really see,” Soper said.

Hulse recognizes that sustainability can seem isolating at times but encourages students to join organizations and communities that bring collective action. She highlighted the RSO Project4Less, whose members package leftover food in good condition and ship it out to food assistance programs in the surrounding area.

“The human connection component of climate change is so important,” Hulse said. “I think we often feel stuck by ‘what can I do as an individual’ in this global planetary crisis.”

Aside from joining sustainability-focused communities, Hulse also recommends learning what people can about what’s happening in the community and leading by example.  

“We know reduce, reuse, recycle. But what about at the start of all of that, refuse,” Hulse said. “What could you refuse in your day-to-day life and start small. For example, I know students really enjoy coffee and many, many, many places around campus will take your reusable cup.”

Hulse was particularly inspired by her mother who showed her that small habits, like using reusable bags at the grocery store, can make a big change. Hulse encourages students to look for that positive influence around them and wants students to be that influence in their own sustainability journey.

“A community that is pursuing zero waste imperfectly is far better than a few individuals doing it perfectly,” Hulse said.

lilygp2@dailyillini.com

Sarthak & I met on 3/8/2023 to go over some more of the BFU application. 

The current version of the log we are using is attached below.

Greetings, Colleagues,

I hope the start of 2023 is going well. I’m reaching out today to send you iSEE Quarterly update for Winter 2022 from the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment.

For more up-to-date news from iSEE, please sign up for our E-newsletter at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/5031776.

IN RESEARCH

• iSEE received a $1M gift from a class-action lawsuit settlement; it is being used for  iSEE-funded $300k low-carbon transportation solutions research.
• A new cover crop project called iCOVER received a $5M grant from USDA and was featured in The News-Gazette.
• From the Agroecosystem Sustainability Center and SMARTFARM project: 
  
  • ASC team members co-authored paper led by Stanford on cover crops’ effect on yields; also, papers on soil carbon budgets and increased adoption of cover crops
  • ASC was featured in a video for American Geophysical Union meeting, and team members also were part of an Illinois Farm Bureau video.

• From the Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative: 
  
  • The Riggs Brewery “Field to Beer” video was immensely popular, receiving more than 11,000 interactions on Twitter.
  • IRAI was also featured in Illinois Farmer Today.

• From the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation:
  
  • CABBI authored a multi-institutional study that explored the first known use of CRISPR/Cas9 editing of miscanthus. Another team published a paper on 3-D phenotyping tools for miscanthus.
  • Articles have featured new Sustainability Theme Leader Wendy Yang, new Feedstock Production partner and PI Ernst Cebert of Alabama A&M, and new Conversion PI Heng Ji.
  • Six CABBI researchers (including Lisa Ainsworth, Kaiyu Guan, and Don Ort) were named to Clarivate’s highly cited list; and CABBI researchers have earned two EMSL awards for continued studies of sorghum stems.

• From the I-FARM “Farm of the Future” project:
  
  • View a new overview video.
  • Check out the FAQ article.
  • The project has received FarmWeekNow and WAND-TV coverage — and was featured on the Big Ten Network during Illini basketball games!
  • Robotics in the field media coverage in The News-Gazette.

• From the Energy-Enhancing FEWS project:
  
  • Team members are part of new $2.5M USDA grant to convert biowaste to pavement.

• Members of the Illinois Geothermal Coalition have successfully demonstrated efficient use of an abandoned oil well in the Illinois Basin as a geothermal “battery.”
• An iSEE biobased chemicals and inks project was featured for its work on printable electronics.
• Former iSEE Associate Director Gillen D’Arcy Wood recently published a new website on ocean data from 19th century voyage.

 IN EDUCATION & OUTREACH

• Registration is open for iSEE Congress 2023 — “Addressing Crises of a Planetary Scale: Lessons from Pandemics and Climate Change.”
• The Fall 2023 Critical Conversation is expected to bring together stakeholders to discuss climate-smart commodities.
• iSEE’s Environmental Leadership Program for Spring 2023 is already more than past the midway point; check out our student blog for some perspective on the immersive learning experience.
• Read a Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) success story in former Q author and CEW recipient Zack Fishman.

IN CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY

• Our Grind2Energy video explored how dining hall food waste produces energy and fertilizer; its release spurred coverage by The News-Gazette and WCIA-TV.
• iSEE’s new, more comprehensive Student Action webpage offers listings for iSEE jobs, volunteering, and student organizations to join.
• Illini Lights Out fall semester featured RECORD totals: more than 640 volunteers turned off 20,303 bulbs, saving the campus as much as 35,000 kWH, $3,090, and nearly 25 tons of GHG. Spring dates: Jan. 27 (130+ volunteers, 5,043 bulbs, 8,700 kWH, $760, 6.2 tons of GHG), Feb. 10 and 24, March 24, and April 21.
• At the November Zero Waste basketball game (see video) more than 280 pounds of beverage containers and other recyclables were diverted from the landfill. The next Zero Waste basketball game March 2 seeks 100 volunteers. iSEE partnering with F&S, Housing, Athletics, and Union for a #don’twasteWednesdays twitter campaign all spring. FALL PLAN: a ZW football tailgate.
• A new Waste Transfer Station video shows the great work by Facilities & Services — but also the need for all campus community members to pre-sort their recyclables to prevent them from becoming landfill waste.
• Greener Campus certifications in the new year: One new office (Visit Champaign County!), one new chapter (Sigma Lambda Gamma sorority), and nine new events (including Illini Lights Out) certified in January.
• Read our article about the sustainable features of Campus Recreation and our feature about the new beekeeping club on campus.

Thanks for reading, and best wishes for the remainder of the spring semester!

Best,

Madhu Khanna

Madhu Khanna

Pronouns: she, her

Alvin H. Baum Family Chair & Director, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment

ACES Distinguished Professor in Environmental Economics

Co-Director, Center for Economics of Sustainability

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

1301, W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801

Below is a newsletter regarding ECE's zero energy certification.

https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/27/1637114727.html

Ehab Kamarah and Madhu Khanna approved $10,000 in funding to support Agrivoltaics projects on campus.

Tim Mies sent the following email excerpt to Madhu Khanna on Feb 7, 2023:

I would like to update a bit on how this project might go forward, and ask for your thoughts on possible funding to complete this project (connect to campus grid).

Carl to date has purchased 3 solar frames which can hold up to 72 of the size panel I have in storage (from the 2007 Solar Decathlon house).  Unfortunately I have only 40 panels, which will lead to a gaps in shading with only 12 panels per structure.

My initial intention was to apply to SSC for funding to fill the space, purchase inverters, and hire electricians to connect to the campus grid.  This application would occur after the initial goal, shading research plots, is complete.

Since this last email, I was contacted by Brent Lewis at F&S regarding potential surplus panels available immediately due to a demolition project under way for the failed building the panels connect to.  The picture below shows 60 panels of larger capacity (245 watt instead of 180) that would be able to fully populate the footprint of Carl’s frames.  In addition, there are inverters and ancillary connection parts that can likely be reused to allow these panels continued production on the campus grid.

A ballpark estimate from F&S would be 5-10K to salvage all of the panels and equipment.   Do you think there would be support from Ehab to utilize carbon credit funds to at least salvage the panels and reinstall on the new frames?  I would be willing to apply to SSC again for the final connection if carbon funds could not cover this all.

Alec McKay & Sarthak Prasad met on 1/30/2023 and 2/8/2023 to discuss Alec's progress on reading over the Bicycle Friendly University (BFU) related materials.

Alec read and took notes on the 2015 BFU application and the 2015 BFU Feedback. His notes are attached below.

Attached is the official receipt of payment for the University's recent carbon credit sale.