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  1. The Landscape Recycling Center tests for...

    Associated Project(s): 
    Build Resilience with Our Local Community
    Reduce Foodwaste
    Large-Scale Food Waste Composting

    The Landscape Recycling Center tests for temperature, oxygen, and moisture monthly.  They test for ph, metals, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and infectious bacteria in finished compost product annually.  As food scrap makes its way through the process and we continue to test the final product, we will be able to observe any changes to these parameters.

     

  2. Equipment purchased at ICRT

    Associated Project(s): 
    Building Envelope Pilot Project

    The Building Envelope Pilot Project funded the following equipment, purchased at ICRT.  This invoice was paid on I8563811 dated 12/13/21. 

    • $123.90 TEC Fog Puffer Kit
    • $168.00 BD Panel
    • $6121.50 Mpls BD
    • $344.15 freight
    • $6757.55 Total

  3. Geothermal Urbana-Champaign readies for year two, RFP is out for proposals

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal Urbana-Champaign

    The City of Urbana has issued a request for proposals for the second year of its Geothermal U-C program, the geothermal group buy program being led by the city. The group buy will make geothermal available to any residents of Champaign, Piatt and Vermillion counties. The GAOI will assist the city with the program this year, providing mainly education programs for interested consumers, as it did for the first year program.

    The RFP can be found at the city's website at https://www.urbanaillinois.us/node/9623. The deadline for submissions from installing contractors is noon on January 21. For information, contact Scott Tess at the city at 217-384-2381 or stess@urbanaillinois.us.

  5. Weekly Update: Shop reopening this week

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Last week we were open by appointment only. We logged 6 appointments and sold 1 bike.

    This week we will reopen to our usual M/W/F hours. Staff are eager to get back to work. We’ll have to run some refreshers for folks as I’m sure they’ve forgotten some stuff. We’ll do some inventory and build some bikes while we’re at it. We’ve got a couple other events coming up that we’ll have to prep for this week as well.

    The numbers:

    • Visitors: 6
    • Sale: $231.50
    • Bike: 1 for $200
    • Misc: $31.50

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  7. update from Nidia

    Associated Project(s): 
    Creating Adaptable Autonomous Systems for Energy-Efficient Buildings
    • Received approval for SSC funding - got the letter and sent it back to SSC, signed. 
    • Nora requested the CFOP from OBFS
    • Nidia wants to talk with Paul about it - 
      • funding for technical engineering for F&S
      • Nidia's appointment
      • $75k for purchasing and installing the submetering
    • Morgan emailed Rob Roman to request a meeting about how to move forward in the best path.

  8. Spring 2022 Semester Goals

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC)
    Students for Environmental Concerns (SECS)
    Earth Month
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan
    Fossil Fuels Divestment - Support Letter
    Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

    Co-presidents Owen Jennings, Maiah Caise, Jack Reicherts, and Maria Maring are excited to embark upon their second semester as SSLC leadership together. The primary goals of the semester include: 

     

    • Bolster collaboration between environmental RSOs on UIUC campus. The SSLC hopes to work with Student Affairs to incentivize participation with the SSLC, using the University of California Berkely’s Student Environmental Resource Center (SERC) as a template. Weekly board meetings and monthly full meetings will continue per usual.

    • Bolster collaboration between other Illinois schools like University of Illinois Chicago, University of Illinois Springfield, and Illinois State University. Both SECS and ISG may play significant roles in this relationship-building. The SSLC has already been in contact with Illinois State.

    • Host Earth Month events. The SSLC already began communication with the Illini Union Green Team last semester to begin planning events like Green Quad Day and a movie night on the Quad. Organizations like SECS, Red Bison, and iSEE that have been historically active in Earth Month events will be essential in these processes. 

    • Write SSLC bylaws. The Council has not previously had bylaws, and they are absolutely essential to moving forward in an organized and successful fashion. 

    • Continue to monitor the fight for divestment from fossil fuels. This iCAP Objective has caused copious political strife between students and administrators. Because divestment continues to be a hot topic, the SSLC will continue to listen to student concerns. 

     

  9. Fall 2021 Semester Summary

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC)
    Bevier Café Herb Garden
    Bevier Café’s - Aquaponics System Demonstration Unit
    Sustainable Student Farm
    Students for Environmental Concerns (SECS)
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan
    Fossil Fuels Divestment - Support Letter
    Campus Sustainability Month
    Sustainability Council

    The SSLC underwent many changes under the new leadership of co-presidents Owen Jennings, Maiah Caise, Jack Reicherts, and Maria Maring. The board experimented with the mission and niche of the SSLC, ultimately establishing that the organization shall act as a medium of communication between student groups and the administration. The organization will also be the primary host of the annual Student Sustainability Summit in October, touting – among other interdisciplinary events – Green Quad Day, Sustainable Student Research Symposium, and Tuesday Talks at Bevier Cafe. 

     

    This Summit was the Council’s most noteworthy accomplishment this semester. The SSLC collaborated with: Red Bison, Outdoor Adventure Club, the Department of Agriculture and Biological Engineering, the Sustainable Student Farm, the Pilot Processing Plant, Grand Prairie Friends, the F&S Solar House, Stop Line 3 CU, Students for Environmental Concerns, Prairie Rivers Network, and the Student Sustainability Committee. This myriad of events had varying levels of attendance. The SSLC leadership learned two primary lessons from the inaugural Student Sustainability Summit: first, quality over quantity in terms of events; and second, planning well ahead of time is absolutely essential in order to adequately advertise each event. If you attended or co-hosted any Summit event, and you would like to let the SSLC board know your feedback, please fill out this form. The current SSLC leadership looks forward to how future leadership will expand upon the Summit. 

     

    Another noteworthy accomplishment of the SSLC this semester was action following the publication of the Campus Admin Manual’s Expressive Activity Policy draft. Students were largely emotional about the policy’s stringent punishment for demonstrations on campus, so the SSLC – in conjunction with SECs and the SSC – wrote a letter to Chancellor Jones demanding that the policy more closely align with the student body’s needs. As of January 2022, the SSLC has received no reply from the Office of the Chancellor.  

     

    Co-presidents Maria Maring and Owen Jennings spoke at the Campus Sustainability Celebration and Sustainability Council meeting, respectively, on the topic of divestment. Though SSLC leadership was merely prompted to give basic updates at these meetings, they utilized the face-to-face opportunity with campus administrators to voice student concerns about completing iCAP Objective 9.1: Fully divest from fossil fuel companies by FY25. 

     

    In a first, the SSLC and general members participated in the Homecoming Parade. Roughly a dozen students marched with divestment-related signs. The SSLC hopes to expand Homecoming attendance next year. 

     

    The SSLC revived its dormant Facebook account (@sslcuiuc) and newly established an Instagram account (@uiuc_sslc). On the latter, the SSLC made 40 posts and gained 227 followers. The Facebook account has 93 followers; engagement on this platform is much less. The SSLC also made a linktree and a Google calendar to which other RSOs can sync. That way, all events from all different orgs are all conveniently on one calendar. This joint calendar is still undergoing troubleshooting, and it is not yet available for public viewing. 

     

    Amidst these new endeavors, the SSLC held full membership meetings roughly once a month, as did the previous leadership. One recurring issue was lack of attendance and engagement. Leadership held many conversations with both general members and staff advisors about how to increase the efficacy of the Council, but no good solution was found. The SSLC will continue to hold these monthly meetings and brainstorm about how to increase engagement throughout the upcoming spring semester. 

     

    The SSLC board met weekly. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact the Council at sslc-chair@mx-illinois.edu. 

  11. SSC Semesterly Report: Diversion of Non-Recycable Plastics Using Pyrolysis Process Fuels for Campus

    Associated Project(s): 
    Diversion of Non-Recyclable Plastic using Pyrolysis Process to Produce Fuels for Campus
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

    SSC received semesterly report for Fall 2021 for Diversion of Non-Recycable Plastics Using Pyrolysis Process Fuels for Campus on 12/29/21. Please see attached. 

    Attached Files: 

  12. SSC Semesterly (21SP) & Final Report for LED Classroom Upgrade

    Associated Project(s): 
    LED Classroom Upgrade

    In the SSC-funded project, "Classroom LED Upgrades", incandescent lighting was replaced with LED lighting in 74 General Assignment classrooms in 27 buildings across campus.

    The final report for this project was submitted on June 11, 2021, along with supplementary documents of a Semesterly Report (21SP) and a Cost Calculations Spreadsheet.

    See the attached files to view these documents.

    Attached Files: 

  14. Engagement iCAP Team Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Engagement and Outreach
    Engagement iCAP Team
    Engagement iCAP Team Recommendations Summary

    The Engagement iCAP Team met on Wednesday, January 12 to discuss and assign the four major recommendations to be drafted before the team's next meeting, including: updating the iCAP Portal, creating a departmental committee for sustainability, creating a social media marketing campaign, and integrating sustainability into the Career Center. Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  15. BeeSpotter Project Page Proposal

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA

    From: White, Morgan

    To: Moore, Meredith Kaye

     

    Hi Meredith,

     

    Where on the portal do you think BeeSpotter belongs? I'm thinking it should be in the Resilience theme, but I'm not sure whether it should be under one of the other projects or just under the main one.

     

    Morgan

     

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

     

    From: Moore, Meredith Kaye

    To: White, Morgan

     

    Hi Morgan,

     

    That’s a good question. In my opinion, it doesn’t seem to fit well with any of the other projects under the resilience theme page. So unless we want to create a new project “support local pollinator projects” (or something of the sort) with the intention of adding additional pollinator projects, I vote for now let’s make it a project under the main theme. Does that make sense?

    Thanks,
    Meredith
     
    Link to proposal:

    https://uillinoisedu-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/fandsamaloto2_ad_u...

    Link to BeeSpotter:

    https://beespotter.org/

  16. Data-driven approach for a new bike shelter on campus - presentation by Pranjali Shah (MUP-1)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bike Shelter at Flagg Hall

    Pranjali Shah, first year Master in Urban Planning student, presented a data-driven approach to determine the best location for a new bicycle shelter for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus. She developed a model based on bike rack capacity, bike theft data, and bicycle census count data. This model can be used by any university or campus.

    See attached her presentation here. Also, view the meeting recording here: https://uofi.box.com/s/g15pzg7a6a4znuc9pm8lkskk1obcrvfi.

    Attached Files: 

  17. Tree Campus USA application approved at the state level

    Associated Project(s): 
    Tree Campus Higher Education

    The University of Illinois’ Tree Campus USA application has been approved at the state level! From there, the Arbor Day Foundation will receive our application for review and for final approval. Each year, the Campus Tree Advisory Committee submits a Tree Care Plan to the foundation to uphold our Tree Campus USA status. 

     

    Below are some kind words from Mike Brunk, from the Illinois DNR, after reviewing the Tree Care Plan that included the various projects on the horizon and the progress made throughout 2021.

     

    “Excellent Plan and some challenging and productive Service Learning projects.  The south Arboretum is a big project, and the LA internships for creating greenspace designs and selecting tree locations sounds like it is fun especially knowing that there is funding support for the installation of their plans.

    …And the new canopy study looks like it will create some interesting information for you to plan with.”

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