Resilience Meeting Notes 10/15/2021 for meeting between Stacy Gloss, Meredith Moore, and Morgan White

1. We discussed ideas for the Design for America RSO project on Environmental Justice.  Stacy will set up a meeting with D for A RSO students to discuss potential project topics and request a 1/2 page - 1 page project idea back to us for approval/revisions. The project might cover an environmental justice topic and be worked on from now through May. We will request that the complete project be designed to be presented in the late Spring, and the results go beyond educational/informational and lead to an initiative of some kind.
2. Stacy provided a progress update on Resilience iCAP objectives.

1. 1. Green Certifications Inventory. Stacy will present this for comment at the next resilience ICAP meeting
   2. NGICP exploration
      1. Stacy will submit SSC proposal to support a pilot program for F&S staff to receive NGICP training at Parkland. The project will evaluate the benefits and decide whether to adopt having more or all campus grounds workers take the training later.
      2. Stacy will request Heidi and Eliana present at a (future proposed) joint meeting of the land/water use and resilience committee about the NGICP program and benefits
   3. Coordinated rainwater planning
      1. Morgan said that she recently had a conversation with a director at Sanitary District who asked for campus to become more involved with watershed management through a watershed working group, which is different than MS4 compliance.  
      2. Morgan also requested that Stacy involve Eliana Brown more in coordinated rainwater planning for future meetings
      3. Stacy will attend the stormwater management organization’s conference on Oct. 20.
   4. Sustainability leadership topics – plan for Stacy to present these at next resilience ICAP meeting
   5. Vision Zero Discussion
      1. Stacy will submit a white paper on next steps for Vision Zero on Campus late next week.
      2. Stacy and Sarthak will meet with a professor who supports / advocates for Vision Zero next week. 
      3. We discussed who would need to be involved for approval and planning of a Traffic Garden, Stacy will report back to Sarthak on this subject.

All, Slower week, which was welcome. Sold a couple bikes and were able to get a handle on the influx of drop off repairs. The Green Quad Day event that was supposed to happen on Thursday was rescheduled to Tuesday, so we’ll staff for that event and hobnob with the larger sustainability community.

I’ll make a run out to the abandoned bike emporium this week, too, and see if there’s anything worth our time. Was planning that for last week but it didn’t happen.

We’ve got a couple bikes in the shop build queue, but I’ll grab a few from Urbana unless we get more donations this week.

The numbers:

Visitors: 35
Sales: $850.50
Bike (refurb): 3 for $490
Memberships: 5 for $150
Tires/tubes: 5 for $20

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

In the atrium of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Building (ECEB), there are two kiosks where people can sign various pledges related to decreasing energy use. Two solar-powered phone chargers will be raffled off to those who have signed the pledge during Campus Sustainability Month, October 2021.

Nearly 20% of energy is unnecessarily wasted each day; very simple steps exist to reduce that number, such as turning off the lights when you leave a room or unplugging devices and cords when we aren’t using them. Other examples include replacing inefficient appliances (like lightbulbs!), which can also save money! Signing the pledge to be more conscious of your energy is a great step toward leading a more sustainable life. Here are a few other ways to learn more and get involved with sustainability on campus:

• Subscribe to the iSEE (Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment) Newsletter!
• Comprehensive Sustainability Calendar
• Check out the iCAP Portal where we list and track our projects and progress
• Read the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) to learn about the campus’ sustainability goals 
• iSEE offers a sustainability minor and certificate in environmental writing here: SEE Fellow Program.
• Collaborate with the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC), apply for project funding, and/or join a working group
• Help with sustainability research or project - reach out at sustainability@illinois.edu 
• Look into joining an iCAP Team. There are a limited number of student voting positions available; please reach out if you are interested because there may be an opportunity!
• Are you part of an office or Greek chapter, or do you host events? Certify as ‘green’ here: Certified Greener Campus Programs
• Sign the Use the Bin Pledge to always recycle and use the recycling bin!
• Talk to your friends and peers about sustainability to help incorporate a culture of sustainability at U of I’s campus. Lead by example!

If you have any questions about energy consumption or sustainability in general, feel free to reach out to campus sustainability staff at sustainability@illinois.edu. 

America Walks sponsored a webinar in 2016 about Walking and Walking Campaigns. Here is the link to this webinar: https://vimeo.com/180652941

The 1st discussion was about a Walking Campaign from Seattle. Basically, they started a campaign called “Walktober”, which had a goal of recording 25,000 miles on foot during the month of October. That is nearly equivalent to cover the world, hence their slogan “Walk the World.”

The 2nd discussion was about Vision Zero from San Diego. What to look for when creating a VZ campaign, how to formulate it, and ideas for how to implement it.

The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Wednesday, October 6 to complete the iCAP Objectives Assessment and discuss our team's assessment of progress on our 10 objectives. Meeting minutes are attached.