You are here

Projects Updates for place: Lincoln Avenue Residence Hall

  1. iSEE Quarterly update for Winter 2022

    Greetings, Colleagues,

     

    I hope the start of 2023 is going well. I’m reaching out today to send you iSEE Quarterly update for Winter 2022 from the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment.

     

    For more up-to-date news from iSEE, please sign up for our E-newsletter at https://illinois.edu/fb/sec/5031776.

     

    IN RESEARCH

     

     IN EDUCATION & OUTREACH

    • Registration is open for iSEE Congress 2023 — “Addressing Crises of a Planetary Scale: Lessons from Pandemics and Climate Change.”
    • The Fall 2023 Critical Conversation is expected to bring together stakeholders to discuss climate-smart commodities.
    • iSEE’s Environmental Leadership Program for Spring 2023 is already more than past the midway point; check out our student blog for some perspective on the immersive learning experience.
    • Read a Certificate in Environmental Writing (CEW) success story in former Q author and CEW recipient Zack Fishman.

     

    IN CAMPUS SUSTAINABILITY

    • Our Grind2Energy video explored how dining hall food waste produces energy and fertilizer; its release spurred coverage by The News-Gazette and WCIA-TV.
    • iSEE’s new, more comprehensive Student Action webpage offers listings for iSEE jobs, volunteering, and student organizations to join.
    • Illini Lights Out fall semester featured RECORD totals: more than 640 volunteers turned off 20,303 bulbs, saving the campus as much as 35,000 kWH, $3,090, and nearly 25 tons of GHG. Spring dates: Jan. 27 (130+ volunteers, 5,043 bulbs, 8,700 kWH, $760, 6.2 tons of GHG), Feb. 10 and 24, March 24, and April 21.
    • At the November Zero Waste basketball game (see video) more than 280 pounds of beverage containers and other recyclables were diverted from the landfill. The next Zero Waste basketball game March 2 seeks 100 volunteers. iSEE partnering with F&S, Housing, Athletics, and Union for a #don’twasteWednesdays twitter campaign all spring. FALL PLAN: a ZW football tailgate.
    • A new Waste Transfer Station video shows the great work by Facilities & Services — but also the need for all campus community members to pre-sort their recyclables to prevent them from becoming landfill waste.
    • Greener Campus certifications in the new year: One new office (Visit Champaign County!), one new chapter (Sigma Lambda Gamma sorority), and nine new events (including Illini Lights Out) certified in January.
    • Read our article about the sustainable features of Campus Recreation and our feature about the new beekeeping club on campus.

     

    Thanks for reading, and best wishes for the remainder of the spring semester!

     

    Best,

    Madhu Khanna

     

     

    Madhu Khanna

    Pronouns: she, her

    Alvin H. Baum Family Chair & Director, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment

    ACES Distinguished Professor in Environmental Economics

    Co-Director, Center for Economics of Sustainability

    University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

    1301, W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL 61801

     

     

     

  2. Zero Waste iCAP Meeting 12/8/2022

    On December 8th, the Zero Waste iCAP team met to discuss a new approach to creating recommendations for next semester. During the meeting, the team created subcommittees based on aspects of the key priorities document and provided feedback on an environmental engineering sustainability project. 

    Meeting minutes are attached.

  3. Zero Waste iCAP Meeting 11/7/2022

    On November 7th, the Zero Waste iCAP team met to discuss DIA sustainability initiatives with Tim Knox and made edits on the Project 4 Less expansion recommendation to be submitted in the coming month(s). 

    Meeting minutes are attached.

  4. Information on moving bees around for commercial agriculture

    Associated Project(s): 

    Information about how commercial bee keeping functions and its impact to overall bee populations was inquired about by Brent Lewis, Landscape Architect. Below is the response from Adam Donzel, an Assistant Professor in Entomology. 

    'Hi Brent,

     

    Yeah, there is work on that.  Here are links to couple studies about it:

     

    https://www.nature.com/articles/srep32023

    https://academic.oup.com/jinsectscience/article/22/1/17/6523145

     

    Basically, yes, there are some stresses involved with migratory beekeeping but sedentary colonies can also have similar issues. In some scenarios, migratory colonies could be healthier as they are moved to areas with good nutritional resources all the time, while those left in place have to deal with times of low food availability. In reality, though, migratory colonies do undergo a lot of stress as they are used to pollinate crops and a lot goes into that - the stress of confinement, heat, exposure to agrochemicals, etc. From a beekeeping perspective, this is calculated into the fees charged for pollination (to some extent at least). Right now, beekeepers charge about $200/hive to pollinate almonds for example (the most lucrative pollination event). Big beekeepers manage 20,000-50,000 hives!  "Small" commercial beekeepers usually have 2-5000.

     

    Migratory beekeeping uses about 85% of the managed colonies in the USA (incredible!). One big issue with this is that, if a new pest or pathogen is introduced, it will be spread throughout the country very fast. And in big pollination events, like almonds, hives are concentrated at very high densities, which does present a lot of opportunities for spreading diseases. They do mitigate this to some extent, however, as there are health checks required to move bees across state lines, and almond growers usually require checks of colonies to make sure they are healthy.

     

    Hope this helps - always happy to answer questions when I can!"

     

     

  5. Mason Bee House Workshop

    Associated Project(s): 

    Join Piatt County Master Gardener Kent McFarland as he explains the importance of having a Mason Bee House in your garden, and walks you through the steps of building one using recycled and natural materials. Registration is required; $15/person, includes all materials.

    March 26, 10–11 am • Registration Deadline: 3/18/22 • Greenhouse Auditorium at Allerton Park & Retreat Center

    Olivia Warren • Allerton Park & Retreat Center

    Mason Bee House Workshop

  6. ZW004 Reusable Dining Containers Program - Successful

    Dr. Jeff Moore, Director of the Beckman Institute, responded to Morgan White, Associate Director for F&S for Sustainability, with the following email on 1/18/22:

    "Thank you, Morgan and Jennifer.  We'll discuss this at our next meeting.  On first glance, it looks like a prudent practice to follow."

    See iWG assessment and transmittal of ZW004 Reusable Dining Containers Program here.
    See recommendation and submittal of ZW004 Reusable Dining Containers Program here.

    For future updates, please refer to the Reusable Containers project

  7. Zero Waste iCAP Team Meeting

    The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Thursday, January 27 to finalize the recommendations drafted at the end of last semester, the Water Drinking Behavior Survey and the Water Filter System Tracking. The team also discussed several recommendations they intend to pursue this semester, including: Adopt-a-Highway program, Food Literacy Project, Composting Committee, P Card Training and Sustainable Receipt options. Meeting minutes are attached.

    Attached Files: 
  8. BeeSpotter Project Page Proposal

    Associated Project(s): 

    From: White, Morgan

    To: Moore, Meredith Kaye

     

    Hi Meredith,

     

    Where on the portal do you think BeeSpotter belongs? I'm thinking it should be in the Resilience theme, but I'm not sure whether it should be under one of the other projects or just under the main one.

     

    Morgan

     

    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

     

    From: Moore, Meredith Kaye

    To: White, Morgan

     

    Hi Morgan,

     

    That’s a good question. In my opinion, it doesn’t seem to fit well with any of the other projects under the resilience theme page. So unless we want to create a new project “support local pollinator projects” (or something of the sort) with the intention of adding additional pollinator projects, I vote for now let’s make it a project under the main theme. Does that make sense?

    Thanks,
    Meredith

     
    Link to proposal:

    https://uillinoisedu-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/g/personal/fandsamaloto2_ad_u...

    Link to BeeSpotter:

    https://beespotter.org/

  9. Good2Go Student Report

    Associated Project(s): 

    Arden Youn, Wei-Ting Yang, Alaa Eldemerdash, Jasmine Jacome, and Gil Perez, Gies College of Business graduate students, spent the semester reviewing the Good2Go Reusable Dining Container program. The PowerPoint is attached and the link to the recording of the final presentation is found below. 

    View the recording here.

    Attached Files: 
  10. Reusable container update - through 9/30

    Associated Project(s): 

    Below are the counts of meals logged in our POS systems as served in To Go boxes from the beginning of the semester thru Thursday, Sept. 30. 

    Breakfast To Go, Meals 349           
    Lunch-To Go, Meals 402              
    Dinner- To Go, Meals 143    
    Late Night To Go, Meals 2 
    Box - To Go, Meals 147

    Total meals: 896

  11. "How Can We Reduce Waste from Agricultural and Food Systems?"

    Associated Project(s): 

    True food circularity must include waste reduction on the agricultural and consumer sides. Don't miss this third iSEE Congress webinar on "Circular Food Systems," with Brian Roe, Van Buren Professor of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics at Ohio State; and Tom Theis, Director of The Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago. Register here >>>

    November 3, 12–1 pm • Zoom webinar

    Julie Wurth • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

    "How Can We Reduce Waste from Agricultural and Food Systems?"

  12. archived info - previous project info

    Associated Project(s): 

    Previous Title: Reusable Dining Options

    Previous Project Description: The Zero Waste SWATeam is interested in pursuing reusable service options for campus facilities which serve food at any capacity. This particularly applies to to-go options.

    A to-go option using reusable containers will be implemented this fall in University Housing Dining at three locations: Lincoln Avenue Dining, Illinois Street Dining and Ikenberry Dining.  

    Previous Project Background: 

    As stated in the iCAP 2020

    "Objective #5.3 ensures that items used on campus-particularly at large events- are durable, repairable, and reusable, and that they contribute to our university-wide culture of reuse."

    This project is aligned with the goals of cultivating a zero waste culture on campus. Food is an enormous portion of the human experience, and rather than eliminate it, the Zero Waste SWATeam hopes to shift the paradigm towards the sustainable future the University of Illinois is planning. By providing opportunities for students to utilize reusable containers and participate in a reusable dining program, it will not only yield measurable reductions of single-use items in the waste stream, but will also bring sustainability to the forefront of each participant.

  13. Reusable Container Project on Portal

    From: Moore, Meredith Kaye

    To: White, Morgan

    Recipients: mbwhite at illinois.edu

    Hi Morgan,

     

    I think we should add a project page on the Portal for “Reusable To-Go Containers” under “Decrease Wasteful Practices Through Behavior Change”. Then, the “Bevier Café Reusable Carry-Out Program” project could go under the “Reusable To-Go Containers” page, and a new project can be made for “Dining Hall Reusable Carry-Out Program” along with the subsequent locations that implement similar programs. What do you think?

    Thanks!

    Meredith

     

Pages