Congratulations to Kara Hagen and the rest of the Conservation Unit at the Preservation Services Department of Oak Street Library Facility for becoming a Green Office! They are gold certified as of September 4, 2021. They used a watt meter to monitor energy use of their devices and appliances and eliminated use of disposable cups. They notably created a new waste reduction strategy by saving the scraps from their long-fibered papers and bringing those to Fresh Press on campus, where they are used to create hand-made paper. Keep up the great work!

This year, we awarded 38 green certifications on our campus! Congratulations to all! This includes 28 events (including iSEE Congress and the “TED Talk: Eco Edition” series) seven Greek chapters (including gold-level awards for Delta Delta Delta, Pi Beta Phi, Delta Gamma, Kappa Delta, and Zeta Beta Tau), and three offices: International Student & Scholar Services, Department of Communication, and Department of Chemistry Administrative Office. Learn more about all of iSEE’s Certified Greener Campus programs.

Greek Chapter Gold Certifications:

• Pi Beta Phi — March 2021
• Delta Delta Delta — March 2021
• Delta Gamma — March 2021
• Kappa Delta — February 2021
• Zeta Beta Tau — November 2020

Greek Chapter Silver Certifications:

• Triangle Fraternity — November 2020 (Read more!)

Greek Chapter Bronze Certifications:

• Phi Sigma Sigma — February 2021 (Read more!)

Event Certifications:

• SECS iCAP Teach-In — Certified April 2021
• SECS Trivia and Happy Hour — Certified April 2021
• SECS Plant Parenthood Fundraiser — Certified April 2021
• SECS Roundtable with La Colectiva — Certified April 2021
• SECS Earth Day Climate Strike — Certified April 2021
• SECS Stargazing — Certified April 2021
• SECS Teach-In — Certified April 2021
• SECS Ecosociology Lecture & Discussion — Certified April 2021
• SECS Virtual Sustainable Cooking — Certified April 2021
• SECS Volunteering with Red Bison — Certified April 2021
• SECS “Plogging” 5k Fun Run — Certified April 2021
• SECS Painting Climate Strike Signs — Certified April 2021
• Illinois Solar Decathlon ADAPTHAUS Inauguration Event — Certified April 2021
• Campus Recreation Food Assistance & Well-Being Program Digital Food Drive — Certified April 2021
• iSEE Congress 2021: The Future of Water — Certified March 2021
• Champaign Park District/UIUC Bunny Brunch — Certified March 2021
• iSEE TED Talk: Eco-Edition Series — Certified March 2021
• Environmental Leadership Program (ELP) Environmental Policy Workshop — Certified March 2021
• ELP Corporate Sustainability Workshop — Certified March 2021
• SSC Coffee Hours — Certified March 2021
• RST/Don Moyer Boys and Girls Club Young Olympians Program — Certified March 2021
• One Winter Night Anniversary Plaza Donation Drive — Certified March 2021
• One Winter Night — Certified February 2021
• Parkland College Trivia Night, 3/24/2021 — Certified February 2021
• Illinois Extension Everyday Environment Webinar Series — Certified February 2021
• American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE) general meeting series — Certified February 2021
• Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Sustainability Seminar Series — Certified December 2020
• ECEC21 (Emerging Contaminants in the Environment Conference 2021) — Certified December 2020

The Spring 2021 iSEE Quarterly Update (iQ) was released with the following message from Madhu Khanna, the Interim Director of iSEE:

Dear Colleagues,

Attached, please find the Spring 2021 “iQ” – the quarterly update from the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).

It has remained a busy time here on our campus, as we bolstered our outstanding Congress and Critical Conversation events with the addition of two experts — activist Catherine Coleman Flowers and nuclear expert Denia Djokić — who are serving as Levenick iSEE virtual resident scholars.

Thanks to the support of experts Eban Goodstein, Tami Craig Schilling, and Harriet Hentges, our new Environmental Leadership Program workshops for undergraduates were a rousing success.

And we were so pleased to have a mix of virtual and in-person Earth Month events to engage students, faculty, and staff from across our campus!

Please take a quick look at those updates and more in this six-page “iQ.” For more regular news, please sign up for our E-newsletter at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/5031776.

Best wishes for the summer,

Madhu

The Land and Water iCAP team submitted the following Certified Greener Building Certification recommendation on 4/2/21:

"The Land and Water iCAP Team recommends the creation of a Certified Greener Building Program to add to the portfolio of Greener Campus Programs under iSEE. The existing Greener Campus Programs target nearly every facet of campus life from University employees to student experiences. A Greener Building Certification would provide an opportunity for collaboration between building liaisons and the people and groups that utilize campus buildings. A set of requirements and voluntary actions must be developed to achieve the certification. Based on the success of the existing Certified Greener Campus programs, students, faculty, and staff alike are very likely to take advantage of the certification opportunity and embed these actions as part of building operations. These actions will also promote life-long sustainable habits. A Greener Building Certification would establish a sustainability standard and increase our culture of sustainability on campus."

Congratulations to Zeta Beta Tau for achieving gold certification (November 2020) and Triangle Fraternity for achieving silver certification (November 2020)! 

Green Chapter Portal

iSEE hosted our first “Certified Greener Campus Program Workshop” to guide U of I organizations in certifying as “green,” even while unusual conditions add complexity to campus’s daily operations. The online workshop included a program overview, steps to certification, FAQs, and an open discussion about overcoming common barriers to sustainability.

If you were unable to attend Thursday’s workshop, you can still take steps to advocate for sustainable practices in your unit! I invite you to:

• View and download the PowerPoint slides presented during the workshop.
• Watch the workshop recording on YouTube.
• Visit the Greener Campus Portal for more information about Certified Green Events, Offices, RSOs, and Greek chapters.
• Contact a Greener Campus team member at iseegreenoffice@gmail.com.