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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator recommendation - Successful

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Zero Waste Recommendations Summary
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Executive Director of Facilities & Services, responded via email to iSEE Associate Director of Sustainability Ximing Cai affirming the intent of F&S to hire a full-time Zero Waste Coordinator:

    "We have reviewed the PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator SWATeam Recommendation and iCAP Working Group Assessment, and we will proceed with hiring a full-time Zero Waste Coordinator. 

    The key responsibilities for this position will be to “educate the campus on recycling, and to push for systemic changes to improve campus recycling” as suggested by the iWG. This position will report to Pete Varney and work closely with Morgan White.  Additionally, once the position is filled, that person will serve as the F&S staff person on the Purchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeam."

    For future updates on this project, please visit Zero Waste.

    See iWG Assessment of PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator here.

    See SWATeam Recommendation PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator here.

     

  2. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hello Pete and Shawn—

    Zero waste activity this past week consisted of

    • Receiving information from the BER students that they had gathered for the glove recycling program. Even though labs will not be participating going forward, they finished up with identifying teaching contacts for us, so I thanked them for our work and have filed their spreadsheet in case we can use it in the future.
    • Meghna Vijayan has been our contact with BER. Her term as president of the group has come to an end, and she provided contact information for their new president, Katie Goebel.
    • I emailed Morgan to confirm whether to revise the glove recycling information on the iCAP portal page to reflect the fact that labs are no longer participating.
    • I followed up with Urbana Purchasing for Kimberly-Clark pricing information requested from sustainability staff at Arizona State University, where they are revamping their glove recycling program. I suspect the information may be confidential, but I wanted to follow up with as much as we’re at liberty to share.
    • Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  3. SSC funds Gable Home

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Illinois Solar Decathlon

    The Gable Home was designed and built by students to compete in the 2009 US Dept. of Energy's Solar Decathlon Competition. Following the competition, the house returned to campus and was located at the I Hotel until Spring 2017 at which point it had to be moved due to the expansion of the research park. Since then a team of students and faculty have been working on finding a new permanent location for the Gable Home. A suitable location was found at the Energy Farm on Race St. in Urbana. The house is a valuable educational tool for students from many units on campus to visit and experience occupying a space that is powered solely by the sun and uses passive and active systems to create desirable thermal comfort throughout the year. This SSC grant provides support for the installation costs to make Gable Home a permanent fixture at the Energy Farm, so it meets building codes.

    Attached Files: 

  4. SSC funds South Farm Nitrate Monitoring Stations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Reduce Nitrates from Agricultural Stormwater

    Chemical fertilizers necessary to sustain the agricultural practices on campus are significant sources of waterway pollution downstream from UIUC. These pollutants, primarily in the form of nitrate, can contaminate drinking water, leading to health concerns such as blue-baby syndrome. Currently, the contribution of agricultural practices to this nitrate pollution from campus is unknown. This project team will build two “Nitrate Monitoring Stations” that will continuously monitor the flow of water and agricultural pollutants. These stations will transmit the data they collect remotely, allowing easy access to UIUC students and community members. The first monitoring station will be located at the exit point for all water from the UIUC South Farm watershed and the second will be at the exit point for water flowing from the Animal Science Dairy Facility.

    Attached Files: 

  7. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    [Updates sent Jan. 2, 2019]

    Good Morning, Pete and Shawn,

    I hope your new year is off to a good start. Here are zero waste activities from the past week:

    • I drafted updates to the glove recycling page of the iCAP portal and flier and sent them to Morgan for review.
    • I cleaned up my spreadsheet where I track glove recycling sites.
    • I drafted an SSC report for fall 2018 and sent it to Morgan for review.

    Best Regards,

    Marya Ryan

  9. PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator recommendation - Transmitted

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Zero Waste Recommendations Summary
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)

    Following the completion of iWG assessment for PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Director of Facilities & Services.

    See iWG assessment of PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator attached.

    See SWATeam Recommendation PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator here.

    Attached Files: 

  11. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn--

    This past week, I posted Morgan's message about the change to the glove recycling program to the iCAP portal. I also followed up on a response from the Kimberly-Clark representative. Morgan has provided additional clarification about the changes and accepted her invitation for further dialog.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan 

  12. Glove Recycling - Program Changes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Glove Recycling

    Morgan White sent the following message to labs participating in the glove recycling program on Dec. 13, 2018:

    Hello Glove Recycling Contacts,

     

    Thank you for your support of the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) waste reduction efforts, in connection with the Kimberly-Clark Professionals RightCycle program.  We are very appreciative of the initiative and time you all have dedicated to glove recycling to help reduce landfill waste from the University of Illinois over the past three years. I’m also emailing the people who have expressed interest in joining the program, so you are aware of these changes.

     

    I am writing to let you know that we will halt glove recycling for research labs and teaching labs on campus, as of the end of this calendar year.  The RightCycle program is only intended for recycling non-hazardous materials, and the majority of our labs are using gloves as protection against hazards or potential hazards.  Therefore, we will continue to participate in RightCycle only with gloves used for food service, starting in 2019.  If you are collecting gloves to recycle from a lab on campus, please do not drop off gloves and do not ship them to Kimberly-Clark after December 31, 2018.

     

    If you and your colleagues in research and teaching labs would like to continue actively supporting campus sustainability, please join the Certified Green Lab Program at https://go.illinois.edu/greenlab, coordinated through the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE).

     

    Please let me know if you have any questions about glove recycling, and have a happy holiday season.

     

    Thanks,

    Morgan

  13. Weekly Updates for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Glove Recycling

    The updates below apply to the week ending Dec. 9, 2018.

    Hi Pete and Shawn--

    This past week, zero-waste activity focused on a major change to the glove recycling program. Morgan and I spoke with Monica Miller on Friday and heard concerns about the potential for labs (especially research labs) to inadvertently place hazardous materials in the recycling stream. Monica pointed out the complexities of compliance, especially when staff turns over at a lab. The determination was to stop glove recycling at labs. There may be some exceptions that DRS would need to determine on a case-by-case basis.

    Morgan is drafting a message to the labs to tell them of the changes, which will take effect Dec. 31. Per Monica's request, I have contacted Serenity Desmond at Noyes and the Chem Annex to ask her to contact Monica about the change. Monica is familiar with ISTC's practices and is comfortable with their continued participation. There is no issue with Dining Services or food venues continuing to participate.

    I have contacted the BER students who were trying to find the names of teaching coordinators so that DRS could talk with them under the previous plan. I told them to send the information they have already collected but that they can stop. Morgan and I hope to enlist them to help expand the program in food venues, and possibly to promote RightCycle to restaurants in the community.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan

  16. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste
    Styrecycle: Expanded polystyrene (EPS) recycling program

    Hi Pete and Shawn--

    Zero waste activities last week were

    • Morgan White asked me to help her collect information to create a business case for styrofoam recycling. Pete, you kindly and promptly sent me some trip/cost information to get started.
    • I gathered some historic information about our glove recycling program for a call with staff at Arizona State University. They had reached out to ask about our decision making process when considering Terra Cycle vs. Right Cycle. Morgan and Shantanu filled me in on some of the cost and mission-based considerations, which I shared with the ASU representatives. They shared information about their experience with both Terra Cycle and Right Cycle, so it was a good exchange.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  17. Funding Approval for Geothermal Characterization/Monitoring Station

    Associated Project(s): 
    Geothermal Monitoring Well on Bardeen Quad
    Utilize Carbon Credits
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    Evan De Lucia and Mohamed Attalla approved $65,610 of funding from the Carbon Credit Sales Fund for a Geothermal Characterization/Monitoring Station at John Bardeen Quad.

     

    An email of approval is attached below.

    The project proposal is attached below.

    Attached Files: 

  18. Funding Approval for MSTE to update the iCAP portal website

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal
    Utilize Carbon Credits
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    Evan De Lucia and Mohamad Attalla approved $15,000 of funding from the Carbon Credit Sales Fund for MSTE (Office of Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education) to make improvements and new coding designs to the iCAP Portal.

     

    An email of approval is attached below.

    Attached Files: 

  20. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn--

    Zero waste activities from the past week were as follows:

    • I assisted in finding diversion rates for other campuses for a couple of students who had inquired. The AASHE website includes STAR reports from a number of campuses, which include amounts of waste diverted.
    • I received email from Jordan Powers, the Fisher representative, about her recruitment of new participants for the glove recycling program. Morgan and I exchanged emails and decided the best course of action is to ensure Jordan is aware that we agreed to postpone recruitment in light of discussions with the Division of Research Safety and to ask her to have the new departments sign up for the program via the web survey we created for that purpose earlier this year. I’ll let DRS know what happened.
    • I got information from Morgan and from Shantanu Pai about the glove recycling program in anticipation of a phone call today with Arizona State University’s sustainability coordinator. She is seeking information about our participation in the Kimberly-Clark program to help inform decisions about ASU’s program.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

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