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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi Pete and Shawn

    Zero waste activities from this past week were

    • I received a reply from Therese Eggett at Veterinary Medicine to obtain information for the Division of Research Safety on lab/room numbers and PIs for the glove recycling program. She is contacting others at Vet Med and will be back in touch with a more detailed reply.
    • I have a phone call set up with the sustainability coordinator at Arizona State University who emailed me a couple of weeks ago about our glove recycling program going there. She and I will talk this coming Monday.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  2. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Hello Pete and Shawn--

    This past week,

    • I had emails with the BER students to answer a question about their efforts to identify teaching coordinators for the labs participating in the glove recycling program. We are seeking the information for the Division of Research Safety (DRS) as part of the effort to ensure that biohazards and dangerous chemicals are not inadvertently introduced into the recycling stream.
    • Morgan confirmed that she will do additional outreach to Anthropology about the labs/room numbers where they collect gloves. I have a second email out to Veterinary Medicine requesting the same information and also their PI names. These efforts are also part of the information collection for DRS.
    • Joey Kreiling expressed an interest in reaching out to the BER students regarding ActGreen's involvement with the Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC). I have emailed him a couple of times for clarification so that I can get him in touch with the BER students, per Morgan's suggestion. I have not heard back from him yet.
    • I confirmed with the BER students that we are not yet ready to recruit new participants for the EPS recycling program (they had asked about additonal volunteer opportunites when I met with them the week before last; I said I would check on the status of the styrofoam recycling program).
    • I sent Joe Pickowitz an email to see what he has learned about operating costs to run the EPS densifier on campus.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  3. Food Waste Management presentation to Housing

    On November 12, 2018, Sarthak Prasad from Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) presented a Food Waste Management study to compare the current mode of food waste management (EnviroPure) with 7 other food waste management equipment. 

    He recommended the Housing at UofI switched from the EnviroPure systems to InSinkerator's Grind2Energy systems as food waste processing system, before sending the processed food waste (in slurry form) to the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District (UCSD) in Urbana, IL. UCSD's Wastewater Treatment Plant  (WWTP) has existing anaerobic digesters that can convert food waste into valuable biogas for electricity generation.

    See attached the presentation in PDF form and the detailed cost analysis.

  4. Funding Approval for Green Restaurant

    Mohamed Attalla and Evan De Lucia approved $32,000 of funding from the Carbon Credit Sales Fund for the Green Restaurant Certification Pilot.

    "The requested funds will fully cover a five-year pilot of Green Restaurant Certification for all campus dining facilities and University Catering." -Micah Kenfield (11/8/2018)

     

    An email of approval and the benefits the project will provide is attached below.

     

  5. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    Zero waste activities this past week centered on glove recycling:

    • Morgan and I had some email about our PI and lab/room-number information-collection effort for the Division of Research Safety.
    • I replied to an inquiry from Arizona State University, seeking information about glove recycling programs at other universities such as ours.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  6. Illini Union dashboard

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi Becky,

     

    As I mentioned yesterday at the Sustainability Celebration, we have developed HTML web pages for embedding into FourWinds digital signage so you can demonstrate or monitor your daily and weekly electricity usage.  Here at the physical plant building, we have them built into a frame that toggles between the two web pages.  You have to create a frame with a titel like “Electricity Usage – Illini Union”, embed the html, and then add a button to switch between the two sites.  Unfortunately, the person who did this for us has moved to another job, so I can’t help you on the FourWinds programming.  But I know that there are ways to display web pages.  Here are the links to the pages we created for the Illini Union.  We’d really like to see you guys put something like this up on your digital signage.  

     

    Day version:

    https://ednaweb.illinienergy.illinois.edu/post/IUnion/graph.html

     

    Week Version:

    https://ednaweb.illinienergy.illinois.edu/post/IUnion/graph.html?week

     

    If you would like more information, feel free to give me a call over here at F&S.

     

     

    Mike Marquissee

    Director – Budget and Planning Resources

    Utilites and Energy Services Division

    Facilities and Services

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  7. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hello Pete and Shawn--

    Here are the past week's zero-waste activities:

    • I completed a survey from the University of Michigan on campus composting. There was no initial question as to whether our campus composts or not, so I filled in most of the questions with the information that we do not have a composting program at this time.
    • I met with two Business in Environmental Responsibility (BER) students to ask them if they could help us identify teaching coordinators for the labs that recycle gloves. This is part of our effort with the Division of Research Safety (DRS) to ensure that labs have adequate guidelines and training to prevent biohazards and/or dangerous chemicals from entering the recycling stream. I prepared a spreadsheet for them to enter coordinators' names and contact information as well as a model message to send to Chris Holmes in the Provost Office and to participating departments.
    • I responded to an inquiry from the Illinois Natural History Survey regarding a message to their staff to promote glove recycling. I told them it would be fine to put my name and contact information in the message and cc-ed Morgan to ensure that promotion within an already participating unit does not conflict with our commitment to DRS to refrain from recruiting new units to the program until a decision is made about having additional safety guidelines/training.
    • Replied to the iCAP User Experience Portal Questionnaire.
    • Reviewed PWR SWATeam emails and minutes.
       

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  8. Happy Sustainability Week!!

    Join iSEE, the Student Sustainability Committee and Facilities & Services for a "plogging" fun run/walk, a tour of Abbott Power Plant, a celebration event with organizations and RSOs that includes the Energy Conservation Incentive Program awards and updates on Illinois Climate Action Plan goals, a socially responsible investing program, and the popular Illini Lights Out energy savings event.

     

    Tony Mancuso . Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE)

     

    Sustainability Week Events Oct. 21-27

  9. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hello Pete and Shawn,

    Zero-waste activity for the past week comprised

    • A phone call with Morgan to convey what I learned on Oct. 3 about the glove recycling program from Jill Ducker of VWR and Sara Portillo of Kimberly-Clark. Because F&S has not been able to provide transportation for gloves from participating departments to the trailer at PPSB, Kimberly-Clark and VWR have provided alternatives for them. Noyes/Chemistry is working directly with Kimberly-Clark through their Storeroom program; other units are purchasing UPS call tags to have gloves shipped directly from their sites to Kimberly-Clark. I learned from Morgan that these arrangements run counter to what F&S expected when $6,000 was spent to purchase the glove trailer at PPSB. I learned that the purchase was made to support an agreement that Shantanu Pai had negotiated with Kimberly-Clark to provide one free pick-up per year from PPSB.
    • An email to convey word of the agreement back to Sara, since she is new to her position and is still researching the agreements Kimberly-Clark has with different departments and campuses.
    • Emails to Sara and Jill to let them know that we want departments to bring gloves to PPSB--and that Morgan is looking into a possible option to use one of F&S's "green" trucks to transport gloves to the trailer.
    • Email and phone follow-ups with departments that are recycling gloves to learn who their PIs are and what labs/room numbers are serving as points of collection. This is the third round of effort to obtain the information for the Division of Research Safety (DRS). I sent Morgan as much information as I have been able to obtain in three rounds of contacts.
    • Updates to Morgan and the iCAP portal with the news that Donovan Lab is no longer a glove-recycling site.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  10. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hello Pete and Shawn--

    This past week's zero-waste activities were as follows:

    • Kimberly-Clark's new RightCycle representative (Sara Portillo) was in Indianapolis, so we met for coffee to go over emerging changes to the program, which I will discuss with Morgan later today. The biggest one is that we are past the first year of participation where Kimberly-Clark defrays shipping costs, so there will be a charge to ship gloves back to them for recycling. A few departments that are shipping their gloves independently of the F&S collection point at PPSB might be eligible to receive free gloves to offset shipping charges, depending on pre-existing agreements and the volume of material collected.
    • I had a phone meeting with Jill Ducker, the new VWR representative. We discussed the RightCycle program changes and the departments that VWR is working with, including Chemistry and the Veterinary Medicine Diagnostic Lab.
    • I updated the participating locations map on the iCAP portal glove recycling page. You may recall that I have been contacting participating units for information on PI names and lab/room numbers for the Division of Research Safety. I learned that the Medical Sciences Building is not a participating location and (through my phone call with Jill) that the Vet Med Diagnostics Lab is.
    • I had emails with Morgan and with Becky Jonas, the PWR SWATeam clerk, regarding content for the team's poster for iSEE.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  11. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

     

    Hello Pete and Shawn—

    Zero waste activity this past week consisted of some email with the BER student volunteers and the new VWR representative (Jill Ducker) regarding the glove recycling program. I have a phone call scheduled with Jill on Wednesday. In her email, Jill told me that VWR is working directly with some of the campus units on a system where they can ship their gloves for recycling via UPS instead of going through the campus program where people have been having to transport gloves in their personal vehicles. I hope to learn more on Wednesday and have invited Morgan to join if she is able.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan

  12. Water004 GSI Standards Parking Lots recommendation - Successful

    Executive Director of Facilities & Services, Mohammed Atalla, responded over email to Ximing Cai (iSEE Associate Director for Campus Sustainability) in support of the recommendation:

    "Facilities & Services will proceed with incorporating Green Stormwater Infrastructure in to the Facility Standards. Brent Lewis is the point person for this effort, and he will add GSI information to each of the relevant standards. This includes but is not limited to the sections on parking lots, transportation, sustainability, and stormwater.

    Thank you very much Morgan for your work to coordinate this activity with Jim and Brent."

     

    See the iWG Assessment of Water004 GSI Standards Parking Lots here.

    See SWATeam recommendation Water004 GSI Standards Parking Lots here.

  13. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 

    Hi Pete and Shawn,

    Zero-waste activities this past week were:

    • Following up with departments participating in the glove recycling program for their lab/room number and PI information. We’re gathering that information for our work with the Division of Research Safety (DRS) to ensure that we have good measures in place to prevent biohazards and dangerous chemicals from entering the recycling stream.
    • Updates to the glove recycling information on the iCAP portal to clean up location information. I also updated the project team information with the name of our new Kimberly-Clark contact (Sara Portillo).
    • Organizing contact, lab/room number, and PI information into spreadsheets for DRS and for the BER student volunteers who will help us identify teaching coordinators in the participating labs.

    I entered 3.3 hours to cover these activities.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

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