Sharing our Affiliate status with UIC
Associated Project(s):
Morgan White shared the SmartWay Affiliate program information with Cindy Klein-Banai at the University of Illinois- Chicago(UIC)
Attached Files:
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Projects Updates for place: Illini Union
F&S sharing SmartWay status with UIC
Associated Project(s):Morgan White and Sinead Soltis met with Katherine Yoshida, the University of Illinois-Chicago's Sustainabiliy program director about our system's status of being an EPA SmartWay Affiliate. Discussion included the history of SmartWay on our campus, along with ideas of how to integrate into UIC's campus.
A follow up call is scheduled for the end of October.
Housing stopped recycling gloves
Associated Project(s):Dining no longer recycle gloves as they have moved to a cheaper non-recyclable glove.
Funding Approval for Outdoor Recycling Bins
Associated Project(s):Evan DeLucia and Mohamed Attalla approved $310,000 of funding from the Carbon Credit Sales Fund for replacing outdoor trash receptacles with trash and recycling dual bins.
An email of the approval is attached below.
A project memo is attached below.
University of Illinois is now an EPA SmartWay Affiliate
Associated Project(s):The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is now a registered SmartWay Affiliate! The EPA SmartWay Affiliate Agreement was signed on 6/19/20, and the university was officially welcomed to the program by a representative from the EPA on 7/16/20. Civil Engineering student Abby Culloton and F&S Sustainability Intern Sinead Soltis will begin integrating the SmartWay messaging within campus departments beginning in the fall 2020 semester.
A SmartWay Affiliate is an organization that agrees to educate and support their members' efforts to improve freight sustainability. Please follow the link below for more information and to explore how your team can become a SmartWay partner!
Spring 2020 Project Deliverables
Associated Project(s):Final Project Deliverables for Spring 2020
There were 7 projects completed by the WIE-GFX Abroad Scholars in the Spring 2020 semester of ENG 177
- Armory Bike Path Restoration
- Study Abroad Carbon Offset
- Electric Vehicle Charging Stations
- AASHE STARS Report 2020
- Food Waste
- Sustainability Best Practices Guide
- EPA SmartWay Program
EPA SmartWay Program
Associated Project(s):Here are the files associated with the EPA SmartWay Program.
Attached Files:EPA SmartWay Program presented infirst-year women in engineering class
Associated Project(s):Abby Culloton, a freshman in Civil and Environmental Engineering, put together a project proposal for the SmartWay program and presented it on February 28th. This proposal included why being an affiliate of this program would be beneficial to campus, who/ what departments across campus would be involved, proposed objectives, and other facts that needed to be considered.
Attached is the full proposal.
Attached Files:Student to lead efforts this spring
Associated Project(s):Women in Engineering (WIE) Grainger First-Year Experience (GFX) student, Abby Culloton, is working with Morgan White and Sinead Soltis at F&S to lead the integration of SmartWay on campus, pending the completion of the EPA SmartWay Affiliate Agency agreement for campus. Abby will do this as part of her class project, and in support of campus sustainability.
new bins installed on Green Street
Associated Project(s):New dual bins were installed on Green Street this fall, as part of the MCORE project.
SSC funds Recycling Pods
Associated Project(s):The Illini Union has purchased 6 outdoor recycling units and 7 indoor units to address the growing need for recycling centers in and around the Union. This project will add an additional 10 recycling bins to the current initiative. In doing so, recycling efforts will increase around the Union, iCAP objectives will be implemented, recycling will be promoted across campus, strides towards waste reduction will be made – among just some of the positive impacts.
Attached Files:RightCycle End of Year 2018 metrics
Associated Project(s):Hello Shantanu,
Congratulations on your outstanding waste diversion accomplishments in 2018! By participating in the RIGHTCYCLE* Program, University of Illinois- Urbana Champaign has diverted 10,086 pounds of glove waste from landfills. Thank you for your commitment to corporate social responsibility and your continued efforts to reduce your impact on the environment.
9/12/2018
University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign
RC4016
Gloves
8/27/2018
University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign
RC3983
Gloves
9515
10/1/2018
University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign
RC4226
Gloves
71
1/17/2018
University of Illinois Urbana- Chemistry
RC3362
Gloves
500
Please remember to email rightcycle@kcc.com to request a release number prior to shipping your waste and to clearly display this number on your shipment.
It all adds up to zero landfill and a more efficient workplace.
Thank you,
Erika
Final Report submitted to SSC - LED Upgrades 104 & 222
Associated Project(s):Rooms 104 and 222 of the Illini Union are both utilized extensively throughout the day. Each room maintains a high level of foot traffic and visibility within the building. An assessment team concluded that transitioning the old lighting fixtures to LED would have an overwhelmingly positive impact on energy consumption and unnecessary waste. The overarching goal of this project is to promote sustainability from within the Illini Union. The smaller scope of this project is to reduce carbon emissions and save energy by utilizing LED lighting fixtures within rooms 104 and 222 in the Illini Union. The lighting levels generated by the new LED fixtures are more than adequate for the usage, and end users and staff have been very satisfied.
Glove Recycling - Program Changes
Associated Project(s):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
Weekly Updates for Zero Waste
Associated Project(s):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 RyanPWR011 SmartWay Union recommendation - Successful
Associated Project(s):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, in collaboration with Jamie Singson at the Illini Union, will proceed with investigating the recommendation to join the EPA’s SmartWay partnership program. Morgan will be arranging a webinar/conference call with the representatives from EPA’s SmartWay program and the associated departments on campus per your recommendation. Then each respective department will determine how to proceed, when the process is clear. Morgan will provide updates via the iCAP Portal SmartWay project page: https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project/smartway-transport-partnership."
See the iWG Assessment of PWR011 SmartWay Union here.
See SWATeam recommendation PWR011 SmartWay Union here.
Recontacted BER Volunteers
Associated Project(s):With the students back in town for the semester, Marya Ryan re-contacted the Business in Environmental Responsibility (BER) volunteers she spoke with in the spring. The volunteers are helping with the glove recycling program. Over the summer, they identified contacts for nonparticipating departments with $2,000 or more in nitrile glove purchases for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2017-2018. Ryan 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 F&S's work with the Division of Research Safety. Ryan also asked whether they could help identify teaching coordinators in the teaching labs to assist with that work.
Working with Division of Research Safety on Glove Recycling Safety
Associated Project(s):Morgan White and Marya Ryan had a phone call with Monica Miller of the Division of Research Safety (DRS) and Shantanu Pai. F&S is working with DRS 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. Ryan has emails out to participating labs to gather lab names, room numbers, and PI contact information so that F&S can start assessing any additional instructions, training, or other program components that will support safe practices.
PWR011 SmartWay Union recommendation - Transmitted
Associated Project(s):This recommendation has been submitted to the Illini Union and F&S Stores.
See attached iWG assessment.
See SWATeam recommendation PWR011 SmartWay Union here.
Attached Files:bike box rap video
Associated Project(s):Here is a fun new addition to the education effort on the new bike infrastructure on campus.
https://mtd.org/inside/mtd-pulse/how-to-use-a-bike-box-stop-turn-wait/
