Hello Eco-Olympic followers!
I encourage you all to add us on Facebook ! Teams are encouraged to post pictures throughout the competition so you can all follow along!
Check out how your hall and others are doing at this link . Starting Tuesday, you can go to go.illinois.edu/ECO and click on your hall to find the results.
Below are the current results for sign up participation. Way to go Allen Hall!
On the agenda at the ECBS SWATeam meeting:
1) Final review of Illini Lights Out (ILO) recommendation;
2) Scott Willenbrock visiting April 14 meeting;
3) Updates:
- iCAP Portal. Work of Morgan and Chenxi Jiang;
- Earth Hour photo;
- Eco-Olympics;
- Green Lab Coordinator
4) SWATeam next meeting time and date: April 13th, from 3:30 to 5 pm.
Hey all!
The competition has begun! It will run until 4/17. We are close to having the live results up so you can check how your hall is doing. I'll send out a link when that is complete.
You are competing for a catered banquet or a $200-500 prize of your choice. Start saving energy, signing people up for Eco-Olympics, and having events.
For your convenience, I have attached the participation outline that specifies how to win points for that $200-500 prize.
Reach out with any questions and good luck!
Best,
Jessica Mondello
Eco-Olympics | Director
Think Globally. Act Locally.
Hello Eco-Olympic followers!
It's not too late to sign up! For those who have their team up and running, I highly encourage you all to meet before spring break begins. Once we get back, the competition is on! If you let me know the time and place, I can bring shirts to hand out.
Here is the count of participants signed up for each hall:
Remember that each person signed up gives your one point towards the participation price! Have some tabling events to get people interested!
Best,
Jessica Mondello
Eco-Olympics | Director
Think Globally. Act Locally.
On the agenda at the ECBS SWATeam meeting:
1) Discussion of recommendation process as developed and described in the iCAP;
2) Illini Lights Out final planning for 10th of February;
3) Update on fume hood work;
4) North America Laboratory Freezer Challenge update; 5) Planning for Earth Week.
It’s time for promoting and encouraging energy conservation in the halls through Eco-Olympics energy competition, we are displaying the coveted trophy in various locations around housing starting this week through the end of the competition. The grand prize, a catered banquet is secured and awaiting the winning hall!
New to this year’s competition!
1) We are asking Chancellor Jones to be the signatory for the leadership certificates this year.
2) We are also supporting a participation prize of $200-$500 for the hall with the most and best participation efforts, your thoughts on this and more on that in a minute.
3) All Eco-Olympics meetings will be held at your individual hall, accommodating busy schedules and making it easier to attend.
4) Housing is helping with marketing support for the competition and individual halls.
5) We have been working with campus utilities to identify meters that are impacted by students and only recording energy usage from these meters to better gauge the teams efforts.
Is your hall competing?
If you have not seen, flyers posted, group meetings held, plans for participation events or heard conversation about Eco-Olympics it is time to stir the pot and get your residents in contact with us.
This leaves us with nine (9) buildings competing at various levels of effort, we are shooting for 12-15 buildings this year and would like your help in making this happen?
If your hall is not listed as “committed” help us get the word out by contacting us, we will make arrangements for a presentation/recruiting opportunity and marketing materials to be distributed.
Your input is Greatly appreciated, this year we are measuring participation efforts and awarding a financial incentive (between $200-$500) to the hall with the highest level of participation. This will be measured by number of team member’s signup with Eco-Olympics from each hall, number of events held in the hall, and number of participants at each event, verified through organization representatives, and photos of the event.
What we would like from you is to let us know your thoughts on the idea of motivating participation with a $200-$500 incentive for your residents. This prize could be used for the students in any way they like, of course we would encourage it to be used for sustainability and energy conservation efforts, but that would not be mandatory.
We are looking forward to our best and biggest competition ever!
Thank you
Paul Foote
Think Globally. Act Locally.
On the agenda at the ECBS SWATeam meeting:
1) Associate Director for Campus Sustainability at iSEE replacement;
2) Status of recommendation for Green Lab Coordinator;
3) Discussion: How the SWATeam recommendation process working for us;
4) FYI: Discussions are ongoing on campus about higher expectations for building standards;
5) Illini Light Out” will transition to iSEE and dates for the rest of the year;
6) Certified Green Office Program. How ECBS SWATeam can promote this;
7) Status updates: 2017 Freezer Challenge and Eco-Olympics Planning.
The past couple weeks have been productive and busy. Follow up emails were sent to those people who filled out our enrollment form but did not reply back after the initial email and already some good responses have come of that. A couple people said they misunderstood and didn't realize that their department would have to purchase the bicycles so they said they weren't interested. A couple said they received the info and were talking to the appropriate people within their departments. A couple others had meetings setup with myself due to the follow up emails.
This week I met with Illini Emergency Medical Services who have a bicycle fleet that they use during University events to ensure rapid medical response times. We discussed what was going well for them and what could be improved. They said they would like more publicity so I said that they should absolutely try and get the word out more about their efforts.
This week I also met with the Student Planning Organization, the RSO that manages Urban Planning department bicycle fleet. They have 3 bikes that I got to see. We discussed the potential of encouraging more faculty and visiting people's use of the bikes as well as branding for their bikes in an attempt to differentiate them from private bikes.
I have also been working on an infographic on "Why Bikes" that details the benefits of cycling on campus. I am hoping this can be passed around with other bicycle fleet documentation we send out. There are a couple drafts still and they are attached to this update as a private file.
Hello,
Most of you have had some direct involvement with the LAR LLC planting that is in progress. It started last spring and now has a ~$5000 grant from the Student Sustainability Committee. The past two weeks have seen a lot of progress as plants were removed from propagation beds and transplanted to the front and N side of LAR.
Here are a few shots with some of you featured. I will make more available later to individuals.
The recent planting contains mostly woodland wildflowers that are currently dormant. the straws mark the locations so we do not plant over them during the next couple weeks. Hopefully they will survive the winter since there are other plants that go in early in the spring.
The LLC has some weeding tools and watering cans in the building that LAR students can access. We will need to water plants and do some weeding this week. If you have a break or get done before dark you might be able to do some weeding on the S side of the building. Gwenna or I may have to show you what to take out.
We are likely to have some more planting next weekend. Probably Saturday (and maybe Sunday) morning around 10. Sunday afternoon some of us will be with Red Bison at the South Arboretum Woods near the pollinatarium by Lincoln and Windsor. Any of you are welcome there.
Attached are also a couple posters showing the kinds of woodland plants that are going in.
John C. Marlin
-----------
The files are on the main project page.
After receiving responses from four different active bicycle fleets on campus after about 3 weeks of having our survey active, we wrote up an analysis of the responses. This analysis is attached to this post as a .pdf file.
This past week we continued reaching out to people that we have either met in person about potentially starting bicycle fleets on campus. Doug Wolters, Director of Operations for ACES, was able to reach out to the business managers of ACES to share information that we sent him. I also sent emails to a couple people that took our survey requesting a short meeting so we can further discuss their program's success as well as any ways we can improve their bicycle fleets.
Here is an update of what Lily Wilcock and myself (Logan Ebeling) have accomplished concerning departmental bicycle fleets on campus from late August to late October.
We began with a goal of assessing the health and status of current departmental bicycle fleets on campus. Offhand, Lily knew of the following programs:
In an attempt to reach out to those programs and other ones that we potentially did not know about, we developed a survey for people involved with those programs to take. A link to that survey was sent out in an E-Week advertisement on October 2nd. A screenshot of that blurb in the E-Week is attached to this post. We are still waiting on responses from that survey (so far we have about 3 responses).
Another goal was to advertise to departments that starting a bicycle fleet was even a possibility. Anecdotally, it seems that many people are unaware that the University is encouraging bicycle use for employees. To address this, we developed a short enrollment form that people could fill out if they wanted more information on starting a departmental bicycle fleet. A link to this enrollment form was also sent out in the October 2nd E-Week advertisement. We had around 10 replies to this enrollment form and sent out an email to the respondents with more information and an offer to meet and discuss possibilities for a bicycle fleet for their department.
One goal of mine was to develop two checklists to have available to people to aid in sending out information to people. These two checklists are completed and we have been sending them out to people where appropriate. The two checklists are attached to this post and they are:
These checklists drew heavily off of information in the Departmental Bike Sharing Manual from 2014 (attached to this project's main page).
August, 2016, a new initiative towards promoting departments to start their own bicycle fleets began. Lily Wilcock, Active Transportation Coordinator, took on myself (Logan Ebeling), a student intern to help with this project. I am participating in the project as part of ENVS 491, a class required for my Sustainability Minor.
This project is an evolution from the Departmental Bike Sharing project (see Associated Projects) and is using materials from that project and is drawing off its success.
We met August 24th at the Campus Bike Center to discuss goals for this semester. We settled on two broad goals: First, assessing the health, challenges, and success of already existing departmental bicycle fleets and second, promoting the formation of new bicycle fleets on campus.
Prairie Rivers Network, the Illinois affiliate for the National Wildlife Federation, is leading an effort to support monarchs in the local region. The are also working with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) on a plan for protecting monarchs in our state. IDNR is planning a statewide event in Springfield on September 9 to share the results of initial surveys.
The Champaign County Sustainability Network (CCNet) participated in the Pollinator Palooza on July 16: "Help plant milkweed at Firefighter Park, 305 S Randolph St, Champaign, Saturday July 16 from 9-12, bring gloves -- The Champaign Park District is transforming Firefighter Park (305 S Randolph) into a butterfly habitat. All City Staff are invited to help plant milkweed this Saturday from 9 am to noon. Champaign joined the Mayor's Monarch Challenge Leadership Circle to save the Monarch Butterfly. In the last 20 years, the Monarch population has declined by over 94%, shrinking from over 1 billion to just 60 million butterflies. Monarchs rely on Milkweed plants, the only plant that they can use to cocoon. The Midwest is an essential breeding ground for the annual Monarch migration from Canada to Mexico, and habitat loss has contributed to their decline."
CCNet also hosted the Pollinator Pocket Garden Tour on July 28: "Walking Tour Begins at Bresnan Center,706 Kenwood Rd, Champaign -- Moving beyond pollinator week in June and to keep the conversation ongoing, CCNET is hosting a tour with, Randy Hauser, Horticulture and Natural Areas Supervisor for the Champaign Park District to learn about "pocket gardens". This will be a great learning experience for people who love plants and want to help the pollinators and the Monarch, but only have small space for gardens."
The City of Champaign and other partners in the community such as the Champaign Park District, Prairie Rivers Network and many others have been working to preserve Monarch Butterfly habitat throughout the community. The City of Champaign joined the Mayor's Monarch Challenge Leadership Circle to save the Monarch Butterfly. In the last 20 years, the Monarch population has declined by over 94%, shrinking from over 1 billion to just 60 million butterflies. Monarchs rely on Milkweed plants, the only plant that they can use to cocoon. The Midwest is an essential breeding ground from the annual Monarch migration from Canada to Mexico, and habitat loss has contributed to their decline. The Champaign Park District hosted a number of Monarch Themed events throughout the summer focused on Monarch Butterfly education and habitat preservation.
City of Urbana staff have planted milkweed seed in landscapes at the Boneyard Creek. They have also designed a butterfly and pollinator garden to be installed south of the City Building next spring. Additionally, Mayor Prussing has signed the Wildlife Federation’s Mayors For Monarchs Pledge. In accordance with the pledge and the Mayor’s interest in supporting monarch populations, staff have assisted in the creation or enhancement of monarch and pollinator gardens with community groups at the Lierman Garden, Urbana Free Library Garden, and Downtown Garden.
Minutes from the Purchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeam on May 9, 2016. The meeting covered several topics, and was the last meeting with Bart Bartels in attendance.
see attached report
HI All,
As you may be aware, I am leaving the University at the end of the month. So I am providing you with a communication document about the Nitrile Glove Recycling Program, just to make sure everyone is on the same page. I am also including all contact information so if there are any questions, you know who to call. Please see the attached.
All the best,
Bart
At the ECBS SWATeam meeting this week, Sam Wilson, a grad student in Communication, presented his ongoing research efforts on fume hood behaviors, which will tie into the development of our Green Labs Initiative. Big Picture Recommendation discussion continued as the team worked on making clear connections to iCAP 2015 in the document, which is set to be submitted by the end of next week. The online Energy Dashboard has been updated, courtesy of Mike Marquissee. Eco-Olympics results indicated competing buildlings across campus achieved up to a 10.6% reduction in energy usage (Lundgren Hall). Grad student Anna Tanaglia presented the success of public speaking sections (CMN 101) that focused on campus sustainability; students seemed to enjoy these topics and some have expressed interest in getting more involved in campus sustainability efforts. Claudia presented a social marketing campaign class project on student involvement in campus sustainability efforts, the findings of which may guide future campus engagement efforts.
Here are some useful references on Native Plants, Pollinators, and related topics.
The storage container has arrived, for collecting recyclable gloves from various places on campus. The SWATeam is working on spreading awareness of this program and implementation protocols.
The primary deliverable of this proposed project is to provide a detailed waste characterization assessment for three facilities located throughout the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois. Lincoln Avenue Residence Halls (LAR), Business Instructional Facility (BIF), Roger Adams Laboratory(RAL) are facilities that will be characterized.
This proposal builds upon the initial waste characterizations conducted in the Spring of 2013 for four buildings: Henry Administration Building, Alice Campbell Alumni Center, Swanlund Administration Building, and Illini Union Bookstore.
The objective of the assessments is to characterize the waste generated from a Lab building, a classroom building and a housing building. The primary goal of the waste stream characterization study is to provide UIUC with an accurate and precise baseline measurement of the solid waste generated at each facility type. ISTC will assist F&S in identifying and implementing practices and technologies that will reduce waste, increase landfill diversion, increase recycling revenues, and decrease waste disposal costs. These efforts will help UIUC to become an example of a sustainable campus, and will provide new learning and teaching opportunities for the university and community at large. The ancillary deliverables are various direct educational programing opportunities both structured as well as passive.
