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Project Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects

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  2. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    C-U Bike to Work Day
    Encourage Active Transportation

    All, last Tuesday was BIKE TO WORK DAY! It was great! Great weather, great turnout, great conversation, great blindingly bright Vision Zero t shirts. I even sold some tubes and lights here at the Bike Center during the event and helped with some minor tune-ups. Peak times—no surprise—was 8:30 – 9am. After that a few stragglers hung around until  l0.

     

    On Saturday we had the Bike Rodeo at the ARC parking lot. While we didn’t have the huge turnout we were hoping for, the event ran really smoothly and we were able to educate and teach a lot about bike safety and bike-handling skills. Nothing beats showing a kid who’s barely taller than a bike pump how to air up their tires. Needless to say, that was a team effort.


    This week will be a major shop clean and purge as we’ve received another 8 or so bikes from Champaign Cycle that are on-the-whole quality bikes that need somewhere to be stored. And last week with the doors open a lot of leaves and debris got blown into the shop, so that’ll all need cleaning up as well.

     

    Numbers:

    Visitors: 70
    Sales: $828.60
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $160
    Memberships: 5 for $150
    Tire/tube: 16 for $89

     

    Thanks!

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  5. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    Zero-waste activity this past week was as follows: 

    • I emailed the BER volunteers who had contacted Morgan over the winter to let them know that we can use their help with promoting the glove recycling program to nonparticipating departments. In March, I obtained a report from Jeremiah Yokley at OBFS listing all the UIUC departments that have purchased nitrile gloves. Morgan and I want to enlist the student volunteers' help in looking up a contact person in each department in the report and then doing some outreach to those that are not yet participating. I emailed them Thursday to see if any of them will be available over the summer or whether the effort will have to wait until next fall. 
    • I posted a privately viewed update on the iCAP Portal Glove Recycling page with Jeremiah's name and email address and a description of the report he provided.
    • I added a graphic to the glove recycling participation web form for Morgan's review.
    • I added the Natural History Survey to the iCAP Portal as a glove recycling participation location. 
    • I updated and sent Morgan a spreadsheet with the numbers of outdoor bins that I mapped last summer and fall (with a substantial head start on the Quad area, thanks to Ryan and Brent!). I added the numbers of bins that Fangxing recommended be replaced.
    • I pulled cost information on bin replacement from an email from Ryan and set it up in a spreadsheet. I have an email out to Morgan for further information to plug in. 

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  6. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, it’s almost BIKE MONTH! Tomorrow is BTWD! Student staff and I will be running the event, which promises—at this point—to be fantastic weath er.

     

    Last week was slightly abridged since I took Monday off. Hours ran smoothly without me. The remaining days were a healthy amount of busy but skewed towards slow overall. This week looks to be warmer.

    I taught a class at ARC on Tuesday night. 10 people showed up, one of whom came to the Bike Center the next day and declared, “Your class inspired me to try to repair my own bike”. Couldn’t have hoped for a better result!

     

    On Friday I interviewed two new student workers that I will be hiring. They’re both freshman, which provides me with ample time to mold them into expert bicycle helpers--and they were willing to stick it out through some tough, frustrating hub repairs I had them do. Elsewhere on the staffing front, Leah will be leaving us for the greener pastures of Cunningham Children’s Home in the next week or two. Shean will follow sometime after graduation, I believe. They’ve both been great employees; they’ll be missed around here.

     

    Numbers:

    Sales: $296.50
    Memberships: 4 for $120
    Tire/tube: 6 for $50

    No B-a-B or refurbished sales

     

    Thanks!

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  7. Energy and Sustainability project presentations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Independent Student Projects
    Curriculum
    Reduce Emissions from Energy Consumption

    Energy and sustainability engineering poster sessions

    Join us for poster sessions on Monday, April 30, and Wednesday, May 2, from 3-4 p.m. in Transportation Building room 114, during the course ENG 571 – Theory of Energy and Sustainability Engineering. View posters and speak with graduate student authors concerning their term project findings in many topics associated with energy and sustainability issues.

    Amy McCullough . College of Engineering - Administration

  8. Sustainability Fashion Show

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Independent Student Projects
    Curriculum

    School of Art + Design 2018 Re-Fashioned Fashion Show

    The 12th annual Illinois fashion show will be presented on Saturday, May 5, from 7 to 7:30 p.m. in the lobby of Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, 611 Lorado Taft Drive, Champaign, IL. Students from ArtS 299 Fashion Design will be presenting their one-of-a-kind ensembles. Wearable works of art walk the runway, combining sustainability and creativity.

    Audra Weinstein . Art and Design, School of

  9. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    Last week’s zero-waste activities consisted of revisions to the glove recycling informational flyer and trailer-opening instructions. I also had emails with a new participant in the glove recycling program, Alison Stodola from the Natural History Survey. In the week to come, I will update the iCAP portal to show their participation.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  10. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    Morgan and I had a phone call Friday to go over what I’ll focus on in the remaining couple of months of my position, which ends July 31: I will get revised glove recycling materials to her, wrap up the iCAP Portal glove recycling site, contact the student volunteers who offered to help recruit departments to participate in that program, and assist with reporting zero- waste activities to the Student Sustainability Committee. 

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  11. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week was oddly, strangely, very slow and quiet here despite the wonderful weather for most of the week. I was amped up for the deluge of people but it is snowing right now, so I can’t blame ‘em. On Friday we had a moderately well-attended Friday Ride semi-hosted by SECS. It was more of a trial run for next Friday’s Earth Week ride. The route, as planned, is deeply off-campus, which I always like.

    As for this week: Tonight I am teaching a class at the ARC on basic maintenance (ABC Quick Checks, bike vocabulary, etc). I will be taking Friday and next Monday (23rd) off and letting student workers run open hours. I’ll bring them in for a brief manager training this week but they already know everything except a few minor details. Otherwise, per usual, I’ll build bikes and organize.

    Numbers:
    Visitors: 52
    Sales: $742.50

    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $370
    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $101
    Memberships: 3 for $125 (2 reg; 1 family)

    Thanks!

    - Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  12. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    • Jonathan McClintock from Kimberly-Clark sent glove recycling statistics: 
      • Illinois Sustainable Technology Center 3,000 lbs
      • Chemistry Department 440 lbs 
    • I asked him to confirm whether these are the numbers for 2017 or some other time period. I felt confident that the ISTC numbers are the ones for the trailer at PPSB. If there is any reason to think that’s not the case, I’ll ask him about that, too.
    • I heard from Anna and expect to get her review of the trailer instructions I sent to her and Morgan. 

    Morgan, with you on the cc line, I’ll give a heads up that I’ll try to schedule a phone call with you so we can move forward on contacting nonparticipating departments. 

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  14. Recycled Glove Quantities Reported by Kimberly-Clark

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    Kimberly-Clark reported the following waste diversion statistics related to the glove recycling program:

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/Illinois Sustainable Technology  Center: 3,000 lbs

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign/Illinois Chemistry Department: 440 lbs

     

    The time frame was not included in the report. Additional information will be sought.

  15. iWG meeting minutes April 9th, 2018

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC)
    Sustainability Council
    Green Lab Program
    Bike Sharing
    iSEE Campus as a Living Lab (CALL) Projects
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate
    Geothermal on Campus
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam [ARCHIVED]
    Topical iCAP Teams

    Attached are the meeting minutes from the iWG meeting that was held on April 9th, 2018.

    Attached Files: 

  16. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    Last week was a quiet week with regard to zero-waste activities. I managed to reach Jonathan McClintock at Kimberly- Clark and forwarded the following information to Morgan: 

    • Jonathan spoke with Serenity Desmond on April 4. She can handle gloves from Noyes only. The gloves are going directly from Noyes to K-C. Noyes is not currently paying for the pickups but that may change, although K-C would give them rebates for free gloves if they pay. 
    • People typically purchase gloves by the case. An average weight for a case is 20 lbs. 
    • The program is really intended to be used at stocking centers. Jonathan has been in touch with store rooms on campus but has not gotten any of them on board yet. He will send me the contact names so Morgan and I can discuss how we might approach them. 
    • Jonathan will send me the most recent statistics on how quantities of gloves collected from UIUC. The statistics will include what has been collected from Noyes. 

    I have not yet received the contact names or statistics from Jonathan but will keep an eye out for them this week. 

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  17. Freezer Challenge reminder email

    Associated Project(s): 
    Freezer Challenge

    Hello everyone, The International Freezer Challenge is in full swing thru April 30th. Help the University of Illinois compete while receiving recognition, and a certificate of leadership in Environmental Stewardship.
    Registering to participate in the Freezer Challenge is a fun way to stay up-to-date with the latest in sample management, receive recognition for your efforts, and have fun while helping the University of Illinois maintain our world-class standing.
    Take 20 sec's Register today!
    All lab practices since May 2017 are eligible for points and can be added to your score card.

    Benefits Webinars, Best Practices and Resources

    • Reducing energy consumption, costs, and environmental impact of the lab
    • Learning and applying proper cold storage maintenance techniques to help avoid future failures
    • Removing unneeded or unviable samples from cold storage units, allowing space to be consolidated or eliminated.
    • Reducing costs associated with maintaining extraneous cold storage units.
    • Improving researcher access to and security for viable samples.
    • Developing ongoing cold storage management practices that support efficiency and maximize lab space utility.
    • Awards & National recognition at the I2SL conference for the winning labs in each category

    Increasing grant eligibility is another benefit according to How going green can raise cash for your lab a Nature International Journal of Science article, this quote shares an interesting perspective; Ramirez-Aguilar argues that implementing energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable lab practices can be a smart way for researchers to make their grants stand out. It might seem a small detail, but having such procedures in place could make all the difference to the success of your application. “If it makes your proposal look better,” she says, “you’re more likely to get funding.”

    For more information contact Paul Foote @ gfoote2@illinois.edu F&S Energy Services

  18. Archived Description from the Support Pollinators (Bee Campus USA) project

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA

    The campus recognizes that we need to support the pollinator population on campus.  Potential solutions include creating "Pollinator Pockets" in strategic locations throughout the campus grounds, and encouraging the use of native plants in appropriate landscape locations.

    The F&S Landscape Architect is working with campus stakeholders and subject matter experts to develop sustainable landscape solutions that support pollinator populations.

  19. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All! Happy snow in April! (Not.)

    This past week Working Bikes came down and we cleared out the last of the warehouse as well as donated 28 3-speed bikes to the Urbana shop. Thanks to student staffers Evan, Dennis, Leah, and all-around very awesome ATC Lily for helping load the bikes! It went so much faster thanks to them.

    The shop was slow most of the time and moderately busy some of the time this week.  We’ve got some really nice fliers in the works for the Maintenance Class at the ARC (4/16 and 4/24 in room MP6 @ 7-8pm!). Those should go up/be distributed soon. Student staffer Dennis has expressed some interest in helping out with one of the classes, which would be cool.

    This week I will meet with Neutral Cycle about their involvement with the Bike Rodeo, build bikes,  organize/clean, and recruit/advertise for student-staff help for the summer months.

    Numbers:

    Visitors: 43
    Sales: $668.35
    Bikes (refurb): 2 for $310
    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $135
    Memberships: 2 for $60

    Thanks!

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  20. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    Here’s the past week’s zero-waste activity: 

    • Jeremiah Yokley from Purchasing sent a revised glove purchasing report showing purchases from the Urbana campus only. I forwarded it to Morgan.
    • I tried calling Jonathan McClintock from Kimberly-Clark with the questions I emailed him about the glove recycling program (Noyes as a second pick-up location and the weight of a box of gloves). I left voice mail for him and have not heard back. I will keep trying but at this point will consult with Morgan on whether we have another contact at K-C, since I have made several attempts to reach him with no luck.
    • I completed an illustrated set of instructions for opening and closing the glove recycling trailer at PPSB. I sent it to Morgan and Anna for their review.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

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