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Projects Updates for key objective: No name

  1. Happy Sustainability Week!!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Sustainability Month
    Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP)
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Illini Lights Out

    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

  3. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    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

  6. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    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

  7. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

     

    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

  8. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    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

  11. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    It was a quiet week for zero waste. I got a few responses from labs participating in the glove recycling program and had some email with the student volunteers from BER. I plan to wrap up lab contacts this week and report back to Morgan and DRS with as much information as I was able to gather.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  12. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn--

    Zero waste activities for the past week were

    • Morgan White and I had a phone call with Monica Miller of the Division of Research Safety and Shantanu Pai. We are working with her to ensure that labs/facilities participating in the glove recycling program are employing best safety practices to prevent biohazards and dangerous chemicals from entering the recycling stream. I have emails out to participating labs to gather lab names, room numbers, and PI contact information so that we can start assessing any additional instructions, training, or other program components that will support safe practices.
    • With the students back in town for the semester, I re-contacted the Business in Environmental Responsibility (BER) volunteers we spoke with in the spring. They are helping with the glove recycling program. They helped us over the summer by identifying contacts for nonparticipating departments with $2,000 or more in nitrile glove purchases for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2017-2018. I emailed their contact person, Meghna Vijayan, and caught her up on events over the summer, such as the relocation of the trailer at PPSB and our work with the Division of Research Safety. I asked whether they could help identify teaching coordinators in the teaching labs to assist with that work.
    • Morgan agreed with Robert McKim's suggestion that the battery recycling proposal his committee formulated this spring and summer be adopted by the PWR SWATeam. The committee that drafted the proposal is one that he and several other interested faculty members formed (the Campus Committee on Recycling Batteries). He solicited input from me, Morgan, and Joy Scrogum. He will take it to the PWR SWATeam meeting on Sept. 10.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan

  13. Sale of Carbon Credits to Bonneville Environmental Foundation (BEF)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Carbon Credit Purchasing Program (C2P2) with Second Nature

    1,075 Carbon Credits (CCs) were sold to BEF @ $6.25/CC.

    This sale resulted in $6,718.75 being added to the Carbon Credit Sales Fund.

     

    An email explaining the sale is attached below.

    An email with transaction information is attached below.

    Attached Files: 

  15. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn,

    • Morgan finalized plans for a glove recycling meeting with the Division of Research Safety to discuss whether training may be needed to prevent gloves that have been in contact with harmful chemicals going into the recycling stream. Our instructions for participating labs note that gloves that such gloves cannot be recycled, but we want to discuss whether further instruction or training should take place. The call is scheduled for Sept. 4.
    • I posted glove recycling statistics that Kimberly-Clark sent us in the spring and back-dated the entry accordingly (April 10, 2018).

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

    Zero Waste Coordinator

  17. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    Last week’s zero waste activities were

    • Entering my weekly updates from the past year into the iCAP portal. I had been posting specific activities to specific projects, but the new entries will show a fuller (and more centralized) history of the past year’s discussions, efforts, and challenges.
    • A few emails with Morgan to try to set up a meeting regarding the glove recycling program.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

  20. Information Distributed to Housing Paraprofessionals - August 2018

    Associated Project(s): 
    Achieve Zero Waste

    F&S staffed a table at iSEE on Aug. 13, 2018, as part of the Housing Paraprofessionals Amazing Resource Race. Teams of paraprofessionals from the residence halls visited various sites on campus to learn about resources available on campus. When they visited the table at iSEE, each of the 9 teams that came to the site received a blue desk side recycling bin with flyers explaining campus zero waste efforts and several iSEE programs. They heard a brief overview of recycling efforts and got their questions answered.

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