All, Much like the weather, we were up and down this past week. Sold a bike to a gentleman who’s planning to ride a portion of the Katy Trail in Missouri with his young daughter. I’ll take it as a good sign for future generations that I’m seeing young kids in here repeatedly.
This week we’ve got a couple extra curriculars with our Fix-a-Flat class on Wednesday night and our first Friday Ride. I’ll meet with my staff to iron out the details for those two events.
I’ll also be attending TBPs monthly meeting tonight.
The numbers:

Visitors: 20
Sales: $691

Bikes (refurb): 3 for $500
Membership: 1 for $30
U-locks: 3 for $63 (yay safety!)

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Manager, Campus Bike Center

Izabelle met with Morgan and Brent at F&S today. 

• She shared that they met with Professor Mike Ward from NRES and get some advice, including herbiciding the full area, and possibly splitting the area in two for a pathway through the site for walkers.  To herbicide the full area, they are going to talk with Professor Ward a bit more and send us a plan for the herbiciding process.  Morgan said we will need a week to approve the plan, to make sure we have the reporting requirements handled correctly. 
• They will also talk with Housing about their plans, to communicate with Orchard Downs residents appropriately. 
• Red Bison has agreed to let them use the shed in the Arboretum and share tools.

All, We’re definitely getting busier as we creep closer to “Everyone Rides” weather.
Highlight of the week was a dad and daughter coming in with the daughter’s bike. Bad freewheel so we took it apart and cleaned/re-greased it. That kid was into it! She was eager as all get-out, loved every step of the process, refused dad’s help on multiple occasions, and wanted to know all the names of all the bike parts. A model visitor. Dad loved our education/recycling mission and shared a disheartening story about government-mandated lawnmower obsolescence.

Elsewhere, I got some IT things sorted out that will help the bike center run more smoothly, picked up some bikes from the warehouse, and hired a new employee to help in advance of the warm/busy times.
This week I’ll have the aforementioned employee start, host a staff meeting on Wednesday evening, and sit in on the SSC Coffee Hour for Transportation & Infrastructure on Thursday.

The numbers:

Visitors: 16
Sales: $511
Memberships: 5 for $150
Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
Misc: $88

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Manager, Campus Bike Center

Happy St. Patrick’s Day! In an effort to be more “green” today and every day, we now have a compost tumbler on the west side of the National Soybean Research Center, thanks to SSC funding. This is the first publicly-accessible compost drop-off on campus!

Please feel free to take advantage of this opportunity to sustainably dispose of your fruit/vegetable scraps (without stickers), tea bags, coffee grounds/filters, eggshells, shredded paper etc. While this 60-gallon compost tumbler is housed at the NSRC building, this drop-off opportunity is available to all. Simply unscrew either end of the tumbler and drop your items inside. Attached are several photos of the location and setup, as well as a list of the acceptable/unacceptable items. 

The end-product will ultimately be used to fertilize a pollinator garden at NSRC. More details to come. 

The Red Oak Rain Garden Team announces Mulch Madness plant competition

Mulch Madness is a fun way to learn more about native plants found at the Red Oak Rain Garden. To enter, send completed brackets to redoakraingarden@gmail.com by 11 am Tue, Mar 16. Games begin that same day at noon on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Brackets, rules, and more details are at the link above. The winning bracket receives a $20 gift certificate to the local business of their choice.

Eliana Brown • University of Illinois Extension/Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant

 This opportunity is available online

Meeting minutes for the Zero Waste SWATeam Meeting on 3/12 are attached. The agenda for the meeting is as follows:

• M. Liberman: NERC Recommendation
  • Is it ready?
  • Do you need support?
• T. Etchison: Reusable Dining Options Pilot
  • Update?
  • Do you need support?
• C. Steel: Adopt-A-Highway
  • Update?
  • Do you need support?
  • Are there any alternatives?
  • Can we make a recommendation that iSEE host their own event, which we help facilitate?
• C. Steel: Composting Program/Urban Canopy
  • Update?
  • Do you need support?
  • Are there alternatives?
  • Can we go a different direction with this local, closed-loop composting program idea?
• Roundtable Discussion
  • Removal of virgin paper from F&S stores/catalogues
  • Elimination of thermal paper receipts
  • Assessment of third party vendors footprint (single-use plastics, recyclable materials, etc) in the Union.
  • Student Waste Management Educational initiative.
  • Single-use plastics in vending machines.
  • Reuse of Surplus Goods
  • Battery Recycling

The Energy iCAP Team met on March 10th, 2021 to discuss next steps on a recommendation for a Comprehensive Energy Master Plan after F&S has published their Energy Management Plan that aims for a 50% reduction in energy utilization by 2026. The team also discussed recommendations for a Green Labs Program and ways to manage space usage on campus. Given how the COVID-19 pandemic has changed in-person activites and created a hybrid workforce, the team believes it will be important to study underused spaces on campus to reduce building-level energy use. 

Meeting minutes, agenda, and chat log are attached!