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Project Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects

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  1. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, last week was pretty uneventful. Visitor numbers are declining with the weather getting cooler. I’ve begun cutting back on the student staff as we get fewer and fewer visitors. We’ve got 9 refurbished bikes for sale. With fall coming on strong, I suspect we’ll see a lot of the in-progress build-a-bikes abandoned which can then be flipped for sale quicker than usual.

    This week I will coordinate with Parking to pick up the salvageable bikes from the warehouse as well as build bikes and take stock of inventory.

    The numbers:

    Visitors for the week: 62

    Sales: $187.35
    Refurbished bikes: 0 for $0
    Build-a-bikes: 0 for $0
    Memberships: 0 for $0 (Reinstated our First Visit Free policy, which has hurt these numbers.)
    Tires/tubes: 7 for $42

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  2. SWATeam Meeting - 10/18/17

    Associated Project(s): 
    Recycled-Content Paper Policy in CAM
    EPA SmartWay Affiliate
    Install Appropriate Waste Collection Infrastructure
    Adopt Environmental Indicators to Guide Purchasing Standards
    Green Cleaning Products and Practices
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    The PWR SWATeam met to discuss objectives and goals for the year, as well as provide feedback on the proposed Campus Administrative Manual policy on purchasing paper of recycled content. The team discussed a broad range of projects and delegated next steps for moving forward on each.

    Attached Files: 

  3. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Tracy—

    Here are my updates on zero-waste activities from the past week: 

    • I updated the information on glass recycling on the iCAP Portal page.
    • I drafted instructions for units that would like glass recycling pick-up from Housing; they are with Morgan and Housing for review.
    • Although no new changes have been made to the battery recycling program, there was quite a bit of correspondence about it during the past week.
    • I participated in some correspondence about the best way to wind down the Styrecycle program and transition to decentralized EPS recycling.
    • Anna Barnes notified me the previous week that she has time available to work on glove recycling materials, so I re-sent drafts of content I had developed. 

    While I’m on this email, I have a question for you that came up in my work on glass recycling. You told me a while back that campus units can purchase blue desk-side recycling bins through Central Stores. I’ve been trying to reach Marcy Wright at Purchasing to see if the larger indoor bins and outdoor toters/bins should be purchased through iBuy. Do you have information on that question? I tried to get in and look through iBuy catalogs on my own, but I wasn’t able to find a way to do so; I think it may require an iBuy login, which I wouldn’t be eligible for, given that I don’t have any purchasing responsibilities of my own. 

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  4. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, I was out of town yesterday, so this report is a day late.

    Last week was surprisingly busy despite the cooler weather. I thought for sure that the drop in temps would dissuade a lot of people but we still had full stands a few days of the week. More winter commuters, I hope!

    Wednesday afternoon was the Campus Sustainability Celebration that was a lot of fun and very informative. I met quite a few people involved elsewhere in the sustainability world on campus and was able to learn about some of the larger scale work being implemented. Good stuff!

    We’ve outpaced sales in Build-a-Bikes vs. refurbished bikes in the month of October, something that I think bodes well for the CBC. It definitely imparts a larger sense of ownership at the least and certainly more mechanical skill versus  buying our cheaper-than-retail bikes. I noticed this year a few of the bikes that we’ve sold as refurbs made it back in the warehouse after being abandoned; I haven’t found any B-a-Bs there. Obviously that is anecdotal evidence but I think it holds true.

    Last week I was able to rebuild the hanging bike racks in the back to accommodate better the bikes we have. I was interviewed for the New-Gazette story that ran on Sunday to positive reviews, I believe. Bikes are being built faster than they’re being sold now, and that bodes well for the Spring.

    Over the weekend I traveled to Austin, TX and was able to visit a bike cooperative space there and see some of the similarities and differences in their space and model of operation.

    The numbers:
    65 visitors last week
    Sales: $510.20
    Bikes (refurb): 0 for $0
    Bikes (B-a-b): 3 for $185
    Memberships: 4 for $120
    Tires/tubes: 4 for $19


    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  5. UIUC's answer to MSU regarding EV charging at UIUC

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations

    MSU asked the following questions of the Big Ten schools.  Here are the UIUC answers, provided by Professor Scott Willenbrock:

     

    Ann,

    Here is information on UIUC.  Most of this infrastructure was put in 3 years ago.  We are now starting to think about where to go from here, so we would appreciate your sharing what you learn from other Big Ten partners.

    Scott

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    BIG10 Sustainability Friends,

    I am looking for case study information on campus EV charging stations. MSU has several but are looking to expand the service. I have a few questions.

    • How many stations/spaces do have installed on campus? Level 2: 8 spaces.  Level 1: 14
    • How do you charge for use? Level 2: 6 spaces have Chargepoint chargers.  Price is $2/hr for the first 4 hours, $8/hr thereafter.  2 of the spaces are free to visitors of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment.  Level 1: Six are free to permit holders, eight are pay spaces ($0.75/hr).
    • How is the cost structured? See above.
    • How do incentivize use? Or regulate use so that only EVs can access? We do not incentive use per se.  The six Level 1 chargers that are free to permit holders are all used daily.   In all spots (Level 1 and Level 2) there is signage that says “EV charging only”, and these are generally respected.
    • Are you measuring how much each station gets used? Level 2 Chargepoint: Yes (see below).  As mentioned above, the six Level 1 that are free to permit holders are used daily.  All other chargers are seldom used.
    • Do you have business model to understand payback on the infrastructure/equipment costs?  No. The installation of the Level 2 chargers was expensive, several tens of thousands of dollars.  We are getting about $100/month of income from them.  Clearly this does not make economic sense.  The Level 1 chargers are free, but the cost of the electricity we are providing is so small as to be negligible.  This may change if we expand access to Level 1 charging.

     

    The last question is the most important.

     

    Thank you,

    Ann

     

    Ann Erhardt, MM, ISSP-SA

    Director of Sustainability

    Strategic Initiatives

    Infrastructure Planning and Facilities

    Michigan State University

  6. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Tracy—

    I had a little bit of email correspondence regarding Styrecycle and tried reaching Housing again about glass recycling. I heard from Anna, who is now ready to start in on the glove recycling signage and instructions we’ve been working on.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  8. iWG meeting minutes October 27, 2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Green Lab Program
    Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP)
    Topical iCAP Teams
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Energy Generation, Purchasing, & Distribution (eGen) SWATeam
    Agriculture, Land Use, Food, and Sequestration (ALUFS) SWATeam

    see file

    Attached Files: 

  9. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, with warm temps last week the shop remained busy. Friday there was even a line for stand time. Wednesday morning was the bike census. It was wonderful weather for it and I think it went well! One CBC student staffer and a CBC volunteer extraordinaire volunteered for the event, which I was happy to see. Thanks, Leah and Rick!

    On Friday, a Bike Project Volunteer came and picked up all the scrap we’d accumulated in the last few weeks, which will help immensely in organizing and storage.

    Programming alerts: This week is the Campus Sustainability Celebration on Wednesday so the shop will be closed for that; and next Monday (30th) I will be out of town. I will post on the website and Facebook for both closings. (And of course, signage on the door.)

    On to the numbers:

    Visitors: 99
    Sales: $1,066.45
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $159
    Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $210
    Memberships: 10 for $300
    Tires/tubes: 24 for $124

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  10. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Tracy—

    Morgan is reviewing a Styrecycle change-of- program message for our participants that I wrote week before last; she will also give me feedback on the updates I made to the iCAP Portal regarding EPS recycling. There were no new activities for me this past week.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  12. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles

    All, last Monday we had the bike warehouse move out event on Monday. As I mentioned last week, we moved out about 317 bikes. Some of the bikes we kept and moved back to the CBC have already been claimed as build-a-bikes, which is great. The rest will be cleared out at a TBD date.

    Belatedly announcing this but: Lily and I and Amy tabled at an event at the Union on October 5th.  It was a University employee expo of sorts. The very first person I spoke with was misinformed about safe passing distance for cars, something I was able to correct. It was a welcomed change and challenge to inform a lot of vehicular road users about how to interact with bicyclists and pedestrians, considering all the gripes I heard from employees about walkers and bikers—as most employees drive to work from out of town (or at least the ones I spoke with do). I was also pleased to see a lot of familiar faces of people that have visited the Campus Bike Center.

    This week is the bike census, happening on Wednesday. Hopefully we’ll get good weather and a good snapshot of the state of bicycle parking on campus.

    The numbers:

    Sales: $635.50

    Memberships: 13 for $390
    Bikes (Refurb): 0 for $0
    Bikes (B-a-b): 0 for $0
    Tires/tubes: 10 for $54

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  15. EPS recycling at Dart; Departments to arrange transportation of materials

    Associated Project(s): 
    Styrecycle: Expanded polystyrene (EPS) recycling program

    In July 2017, the vendor with whom the UIUC campus had partnered for EPS recycling was purchased by another vendor that was not able to continue the partnership. Central funding for transporting EPS to drop-off locations ended. Departments that had been participating in the Styrecycle program will be notified of the changed circumstances and will be encouraged to arrange their own transporation of EPS to the drop-off location at Dart Container, 1505 E. Main St., Urbana. There is no charge to drop off EPS at Dart. F&S is exploring options to provide an EPS recycling location on campus.

  16. Archive of page content, Oct. 15, 2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    Styrecycle: Expanded polystyrene (EPS) recycling program

    The following content was replaced with new program information on Oct. 15, 2017:

    Description

    The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) now recycles expanded polystyrene (EPS), more commonly known by its brand name Styrofoam. By recycling this bulky material, we can reduce the volume of waste sent from campus to landfills and avoid the harmful environmental impacts of that practice.

    The Styrecycle program was started in Fall 2015 and partnered with Community Resource Inc. (CRI) to bring EPS recycling to the UIUC campus. Our program can help you do your part to reduce the volume of waste campus sends to landfill — waste which will never biodegrade.

    To find out more about Styrecycle, you can visit our website at: http://sustainability.illinois.edu/campus-sustainability/actionsinitiatives/styrecycle/

    Or Like us on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/Styrecycle

    « Collapse description

    Website URL(s)

             

     

  17. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Tracy—

    Here are my zero-waste updates from this past week: 

    • Morgan, Micah, Colin Tirakian, Joe Pickowitz, and I met to discuss EPS recycling. For now, we’ll direct interested departments to take materials to the Dart Container drop-off location in Urbana, which they can do free of charge. They will need to arrange their own transport of materials. With the densifier now at ISTC, we’ll investigate whether ISTC can become the drop-off location. 
    • I updated the iCAP page on EPS recycling.
    • I drafted an email to send to Styrecycle participants. It is now with Morgan for review. She is obtaining a list of participants to whom we’ll send it.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  19. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Bicycle Counts

    All, nothing major to report last week. Shop was open, people came in, same as usual. I coordinated with Working Bikes for our shipping event that happened yesterday. We packed up 317 bikes to go back to their warehouse in Chicago and then onto South Africa. There are still 67 bikes left that WB said they will return for later this fall. There is also a collection of the good bikes we are saving for ourselves. Those total about 50 or so.

    Our new policy of allowing for free used tubes hasn’t caused any problems. Maybe 5-10 people have taken us up on it. Surprisingly one person insisted on patching despite the free tube. That might change next Spring/Summer. It will also help to expedite peoples’ stand time, as it’s obviously quicker to grab a used tube than mess with patching.

    Tomorrow is the Bike Census. I will be helping Lily with that. I will also be shuttling the good bikes from the warehouse back to CBC and moving some over to the Urbana shop as well. CBC is currently packed to the gills with bikes.

    The numbers:
    Visitors: 91
    Sales (overall): $1,221.50

    Memberships: 11 for $330
    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $555
    Bikes (B-a-B): 0 for $0
    Tires/tubes: 18 for $132

    Sincerely,

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  20. ECBS SWATeam Meeting Minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Energy Conservation and Building Standards (ECBS) SWATeam
    Illini Lights Out
    Green Lab Program
    AFMFA- Deferred Maintenance Funds
    Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP)

    The Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA) is looking to become more involved with the SWATeams and sustainability on campus. ECBS proposed ideas such as decreasing refrigerator usage, making a climate action plan specifically for DIA, and promoting recycling at tailgates. Illini Lights Out had their first event on September 29, and it was a success. 284 light switches were turned off in 13 different buildings. The Green Labs Coordinator position is slowly making progress, but there is a concern with funding. Updates on the ECIP were made, and there is a push being made for mid-year checkpoints in the future. ECBS also discussed if AFMFA projects could be redefined in order to do more maintenance-based projects. 

    Attached Files: 

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