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  1. Weekly Update -- Donations & Sales

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Email from Jacob Benjamin:

    This is the last week we are open for the semester. We’ve got ~17 kids bikes done and will hopefully have a few more donated this week, so between both shops our numbers should be right around 50 bikes! Weather for Saturday looks acceptable, too!

    The shipping containers are fully organized/separated. All the bikes we would like saved are in shipping container 7. This week I’ll triple check that and check with the Bike Project if they’d like to save any additional bikes.

    The numbers:

    Visitors:
    Sales: $164.50
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tires/tubes: 4 for $33

     

    Thanks!

  3. Bicycle Reuse & Repair Programs Can Produce Environmental, Social, and Economic Benefits

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Mechanics Classes at the Campus Bike Center
    Encourage Bicycle Use

    "Bicycle Reuse Programmes Report Threefold Return on Investment" by Helen Gates

    Bicycle repair and reuse programmes generate measurable economic, environmental and social returns, according to analysis by FCC Environment. 
     
    The company's white paper, Bikes: A Vehicle of Opportunity, combines operational data with external research to quantify the benefits of repair and redistribution programmes. FCC reports that across its current network, it has refurbished 2,424 bicycles through prison and community workshops, diverting 35 tonnes of waste and preventing an estimated 345 tonnes of CO₂e emissions. 
     
    New bicycle sales in the UK fell to around 1.45 million units in 2024, compared with 3.1–3.3 million during the 2020-2021 pandemic peak, according to industry data cited in the report. The Bicycle Association recorded a 7 per cent increase in workshop volumes and a 5 per cent rise in value in 2024, while many independent shops reported workshop revenue growth of 10–50 per cent. 
     
    The shift has created demand for trained mechanics, with 13-15 per cent of UK bike businesses citing staff shortages.

    Prison workshop programmes

    FCC currently operates bicycle repair workshops in nine prisons across seven local authority areas, involving around 100 prisoners. The company states that these schemes have generated £119,000 in recorded social value to date. 
     
    Research from the City & Guilds Foundation cited in the report suggests each prison skills qualification saves taxpayers an estimated £34,000 per year through reduced reoffending and related social costs. 
     
    The Wigan Cycle Project, run in partnership with Wigan Council and the charity Rebuild with Hope, has recorded a zero per cent reoffending rate among 24 participants since 2022, compared with a cited national average of 65 per cent. Between late 2024 and mid-2025, the project refurbished more than 300 bicycles and diverted 6.8 tonnes of materials from landfill. 
     
    Mark Harrison, Director of the Wigan Cycle Project, said the collaboration has "unlocked capacity to get bikes to people who really need them, while passing on new skills and prospects to prisoners preparing for release." 

    ReCycling benefits

    The report notes that the majority of a bicycle's lifetime carbon footprint is generated during manufacturing. Producing a new steel-frame bike emits around 96 kilograms of CO₂, while an aluminium equivalent exceeds 200 kilograms. Refurbishment preserves this embodied carbon, requiring a fraction of the energy needed to recycle raw materials. 
     
    Disposal data suggests significant volumes are available for reuse. The North London Waste Authority has estimated that more than 11,000 bicycles are discarded each year in the UK, while a Transport for London scoping study identified roughly 27,500 potentially discarded bikes in London alone. 
     
    External research cited in the report also highlights the economic benefits. Sustrans modelling shows that a national 40 per cent voucher scheme for low-income individuals would cost around £18 million annually but generate £60 million in benefits. Cycling UK's Big Bike Revival initiative recorded £4.30 in health and productivity returns for every £1 invested, while a Lancet study found that increasing active travel in England and Wales could save £17 billion in NHS costs over 20 years.

    Policy considerations

    The report suggests that right-to-repair legislation for household appliances demonstrates the potential for regulatory frameworks to support repair sectors. FCC argues that similar policy measures for bicycle repair could provide clarity and funding stability. 
     
    Gemma Green, Reuse Development Manager at FCC Environment, said: "Bicycle repair and reuse initiatives can address multiple challenges simultaneously – from waste prevention and skills shortages to public health and social inclusion." 
     
    The report states that bicycle reuse should be identified as a model that combines waste reduction, carbon savings and community reintegration opportunities through repair programmes

     

    A link to the full article can be found here.

  4. 12/9/25 Call Recap -- Veo Winterization

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bike Share with Veo

    From Aaron Madrid:

    Happy Holidays!
    I hope you're both doing well. The operations team has currently commenced the process of winterizing the fleet for the year. Over the coming weeks, you should see a continual reduction in the number of vehicles in the community as we pull things in for our winter refurbishment process. 

    With that said, I don't have much else to go over on our call today. I'm currently putting together a year end report that I am hoping to send along by the end of the week. I'd be happy to keep our call today if you all would like to touch base on anything specific. I'm also happy to cancel or just reschedule to Friday and we can use the time to review the data together if you like. 

    Open to whatever works best for your team.

  6. Weekly Update -- Bike Donations & Sales

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Email from Jacob Benjamin:

    Slow week, as expected with the cold and messy weather. On Thursday, WCIA came by, and we got to talk about the Kids Bike Giveaway, so that was good. A post about the event also went out in the weekly newsletters. Hopefully all the press will help us get a few more donations. Fingers crossed!

    Elsewhere, we’ve got some adult bike donations to work through, as well as the last of the storage container organizing to do—one last container to go through, which we’ll tackle this week. Beyond that is space optimization/organizing, as always.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 20
    Sales: $192.25

    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tire/tubes: 6 for $46

     

    Thanks!

  7. Weekly Update -- Updated Hours & Sales

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Email from Jacob Benjamin:

    Last week of November was slow, as best I can recall, and sales corroborate that. We’re working through the kids bikes we have and will hopefully get more donations in the coming weeks.

     

    We’ve got a half dozen regular bikes on the sales floor but with the wintry snowy weather we’re experiencing, I don’t see those moving quickly. Have another half dozen that need final approval.

     

    This week we begin our M/W/F hours, which we’ll keep til the end of the semester and into next semester, as the colder weather tanks our demand.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 48
    Sales: 492.50

    Memberships: 9 for $270

    Tires/tubes: 16 for $95

     

    Thanks!

  10. 2025 Finalists and Ceremony Announcement: Reimagine Our Future

    Associated Project(s): 
    ReImagine Our Future

    This year’s competition drew a record 312 participants from 13 universities, with 62 judges completing the first-round evaluations. A group of 13 finals judges is now reviewing the finalists to determine the top award recipients. We are deeply grateful to all these volunteers for their generosity of time and for helping make this competition a success.

    A list of finalists appears below. Warm congratulations to the 13 finalist teams on their exceptional submissions, and sincere congratulations to all participants for your thoughtful fact sheets and compelling ideas. The competition was especially strong this year. Your work is both inspiring and forward-looking, and we hope you will continue to develop these ideas in pursuit of a more sustainable future.

    The 13 finalist teams will briefly present their projects on Saturday, December 6, 2025, between 10:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. (U.S. Central Time).  The ceremony will be held entirely on Zoom to accommodate our many participating institutions.

    FINALISTS IN THE 2025 REIMAGINE OUR FUTURE COMPETITION
    (In alphabetical order of the team leaders’ last names)

    Anastasiia Albut, Kseniia Zviahintseva, Anastasiia Lichna – International Humanitarian University Ukraine

    Andrea Jimena Arias-Diaz, Ricardo Robles-Fletes – National Autonomous University of Mexico  

    Isabella Bird, Katie Kan, Emily Herbst – University of Birmingham

    Briana Harris, Kevin Bustamante – Waubonsee Community College

    Matthew Kwong, Isaiah Kim, Amina Mandzukic, Aarushi Tiwari, Kaushal Siruvuri, Lionel Yan, Andrew Low, Adi Jha – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Henna Naveed – University of Birmingham

    Tricia Newman – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Angel Ofori-amanfo, Victory Ndibe-Onwuka, Elohor Oghorodi, Lukas Akyildiz – University of Birmingham

    Akhil Raizada, Logan Justiniani, Anna Aler, Arush Chatterjee, Arnav Pande, Gianna Niecestro, Sarina Shah, Jack Visnjevac – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

    Brooke Rember, Olivia Fleury, Niamh Mclaren-Moreton, Phoebe Hill, Emily Thomas – University of Birmingham

    Zaara Tariq Saeed, George Hodgson-Wilde, Xiaojie Deng, Julia Thornton – University of Birmingham

    Ayush Thaker, Vidipta Roy, SaarthakJain, Marcus Lam – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign  

    Crystal Zhao, Marlo Decapo, Valeria Echavarri, Yashwanth Nagarajan, Torin Schroeder – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  11. Land and Water Team November Monthly Meeting Minutes and Notes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Land and Water iCAP Team
    Prairie Restoration at Florida & Orchard
    Bee Campus USA
    Rainwater Management Plans

    The Land and Water Team met for its November monthly meeting on Friday, November 21, from 2:00 to 3:00 PM on Teams. This month, the team listened to a student conducting research on the usage of gray water systems in Illinois and other states and institutions. This research will help the team gain support from other organizations to potentially amend the Illinois plumbing code to permit the use of gray water in toilet flushing systems. The team was also updated on the status of the Florida Orchard Prairie maintenance, which will be taken care of by Red Bison, who is eager to work on this project. The team also discussed the pros and cons of maintaining our Bee Campus USA certification, which requires significant funds and effort to improve pollinator status, a task that is largely already accomplished by various campus groups. Attached are the meeting agenda and notes. 

    Attached Files: 

  12. Weekly Update -- Crankgiving, Kids Bike Giveaway, Future Events, & Sales

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Email from Jacob Benjamin:

    All,

    This past weekend was the Bike Project’s Cranksgiving event, which we helped promote. The event raised over $2,000 worth of food/supplies for Wesley Food Bank and the McKinley Pantry at Garden Hills.

    Elsewhere, I’ve got most of the abandoned bikes separated in each of the containers but not yet fully organized. Will continue work on that this week.

    Next up will be our Kids Bike Giveaway event. I’ll get a count of current inventory between here and the Bike Project in urbana this week, and begin refurbishing them.

    This will be our last week being open M – F as we are closed for Fall Break and will be M/W/F after the break.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 58
    Sales: 490.25
    Memberships: 6 for $180
    Tires/tubes: 13 for $103

    Thanks!

  14. Weekly Update -- Cranksgiving & Sales

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Email from Jacob Benjamin:

    Snow! First significant snowfall of the year. Made for a messy commute in, but always better than driving.

    This upcoming weekend is the Bike Project’s event Cranksgiving, a bicycle food drive. We have a bike trailer set up for canned food donations this week. Weather’ll be great for the event—projected to be 70°!

     

    We’ll continue to tackle donations this week and get some more bikes done for our various programs.

    The numbers:

    Visitors:
    Sales: $823.50

    Bikes (Refurb): 1 for $170
    Memberships: 11 for $330

    Tires/tubes: 13 for $105

     

    Thanks!

     

  15. iCAP Engagement Team November Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Engagement iCAP Team
    Certified Green Office Program (CGOP)

    The iCAP Engagement Team met on Thursday, November 6th, 2025 from 4:00pm-5:05pm via Microsoft Teams. The team shared updates about the status of OneIllinois engagement, Greener Campus, and the ZeroWaste Training Module. The team also discussed a possible Newsletter post for E-Week regarding sustainability and the Certified Green Office Program.

    The meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  16. Off-Rack Locations for Veo - Approved by ARC

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bike Share with Veo

    The Architecture Review Committee (ARC) has approved 24 off-rack locations for Veo bikes on campus. This will reduce the impact on the campus bike racks and it would allow for more space for personal bicycle users to lock their bicycles to those high traffic locations. 

    The F&S Paint Shop will add green paint at these locations to denote Veo locations. The Work Order is issued: 11290535

    Attached Files: 

  17. Weekly Update -- Future Events & Sales

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Email from Jacob Benjamin:

    Deceptive time of year: cooler temps usually mean fewer folks in, but that did not prove out. We were all-stands-full for a good bit last week. This week feels like just about peak foliage, which is a great time to ride a bike!

    Additionally, this week we’ll be tackling the abandoned bikes and preparing for our Kids Bike Giveaway event. We have ~5 kids bikes done already here at CBC. I’ll do inventory at Urbana and meet with Marketing folks to get the word out.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 89
    Sales: $595

    Memberships: $10 for $300
    Tires/tubes: 16 for $146

     

    Thanks!

  18. Grounds for the Garden at Illini Union Bookstore

    Associated Project(s): 
    Reduce Foodwaste

    Grounds for the Garden at Bookstore Starbucks

    The Illini Union Bookstore Starbucks offers the Grounds for the Garden program. Faculty and staff can stop by the Starbucks at the Illini Union Bookstore and pick up FREE five-pound bags of used coffee grounds which you can use to add to your gardens and/or compost pile. Bags are available on a first-come, first-served basis and are placed outside of the Starbucks counter. Stop by any time and any day. If bags aren't available, just ask a barista. Details and why coffee grounds are good for your garden.

  20. Weekly Update -- Kids Bike Giveaway & Sales

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    Email from Jacob Benjamin:

    I was out Friday and Monday so this is a day late. I was in Berkeley, CA which has roundabouts at all of their side-street intersections. (Hint, hint.)

    Pretty uneventful week otherwise. I’ll continue work on the containers and begin prep for our Kids Bike Giveaway event, which’ll be on 12/20. Look for flyers/advertisements for that next week.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 106

    Sales: $157.50
    Memberships: 15 for $450
    Bikes (B-a-B): 1 for $50
    Tires/tubes: 12 for $101

    Thanks!

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