The U.S. Department of Agriculture Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative awarded a $2M grant to the University of Illinois and collaborators to "develop improved seed corn tailored to the needs of the rapidly growing organic industry." Martin Bohn will lead the project.
-- From: https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/812995663.html
iSEE and F&S are excited to invite you to the Campus Sustainability Celebration 2020! This is an annual event that is especially exciting this year with the signing ceremony of the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) 2020, (once every five years) and the presentation of energy conservation and Freezer Challenge awards. Everyone is invited and encouraged to stay afterward for a social-hour!
Campus Sustainability Celebration
October 20, 3 pm • Map
Meredith Moore • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment
This opportunity is available online.
The recently launched Illinois Regenerative Agriculture Initiative (IRAI) brings together Illinois researchers and stakeholders across the U.S. to "create agriculture and food systems resilient to climate change, improve soil and water quality, and enhance food security." IRAI will offer seed grants to interdisciplinary research teams, and an informational webinar will be held on October 30.
-- From: https://emails.illinois.edu/newsletter/1581349436.html
Attached are the meeting minutes and chat from the Zero Waste SWATeam meeting on 10/16.
Discussed were the following topics:
Reducing Food Waste
Vending Machine Alternatives to Single-use plastics
Plastic Recovery
Single Use Plastics
Illini Union Shadowbox attachment
Food Literacy Project
Dining no longer recycle gloves as they have moved to a cheaper non-recyclable glove.
Grind2Energy: Turning Campus Food Waste into Fuel
The 49,000 students educated at the University of Illinois can generate a lot of food waste. Most of it winds up in a landfill. But for students with a dining hall plan, food waste is ultimately turned into energy, helping the campus reduce its carbon footprint.
With the "Grind2Energy" system, food scraps are ground down and ultimately run through an anaerobic digester at the Urbana-Champaign Sanitary District, producing methane that is used for fuel to power the plant. The system was installed at Florida Avenue Residence Halls last fall, and others are in the works.
"Hopefully this small piece will be part of a bigger system down the road," said Thurman Etchison, Assistant Director of Housing Dining Services for Equipment and Facilities.
Hello ECIP winners,
When the Energy Conservation Incentive Program (ECIP) was launched in 2013, it included financial awards that distributed some of the centrally managed campus utility funds back to the winning buildings. The calculation system was based on placement (first place to fourth place) in the awards program and the award category (occupant action or energy advancement). You can see the calculation in the attached fact sheet from 2016, if you are interested. With the Integrated and Value-Centered Budget (IVCB) reform, we transitioned this year, and we are closing out the initial phase one of the ECIP.
Some of the original award funding has not yet been allocated to an associated facility improvement project. If you have remaining funds and have not yet committed to a specific project, please do so as soon as possible. All ECIP award funds must be committed by the end of this fiscal year, so please let us know your plans.
Now in phase two, the ECIP awards include a plaque and the associated prestige, and no additional monetary awards (see attached revised fact sheet). Instead, your colleges will benefit directly from the energy savings. Additionally, to increase the visibility of the great progress all of you have made, we are collaborating with the Illinois Solar Decathlon’s Concept Team (incoming freshmen, learning about building systems and sustainability). They will be completing a simple Building-Level Energy Report card for the 50+ ECIP winners this fall. In the spring, I will send those reports to you with an opportunity to connect with the Concept Team members.
Later this week, I will send a follow up email to the FY19 winners with images to help you spread awareness of this award. Congratulations again to all of you, and thank you very much for your past and ongoing contributions to the campus sustainability and energy efficiency efforts.
Sincerely,
Morgan
Attached is the final draft of the recommended 2020 iCAP objectives from the Zero Waste SWATeam.
Any meeting minutes from October 2019 or November 2019 may reference the following categories:
There will be a revised version by the end of the 2019 Fall Semester after iWG gives feedback for the SWATeams to revise.
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In 2018, all 6 Enviropures were decommissioned. At the beginning of the 2019-2020 school year, Dining began the installation of the first Grind2Energy system. See the Grind2Energy project page for more details.
Here are the winners for the 2018 ECIP Awards!
| Occupant Action | % Improvement | Incentive Award |
| 1. Turner Hall | 21.8% | $103,130 |
| 2. Art and Design Building | 19.9% | $37,816 |
| 3. Burrill Hall | 19.8% | $57,518 |
| Energy Advancement | % Improvement | Incentive Award |
| 1. Coordinated Science Laboratory | 47.2% | $84,308 |
| 2. Seitz Materials Research Laboratory | 44.4% | $91,537 |
| 3. Loomis Laboratory of Physics | 40.7% | $25,717 |
| 4. Harker Hall | 38.0% | $10,000 |
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.
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9/12/2018 |
University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign |
RC4016 |
Gloves |
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8/27/2018 |
University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign |
RC3983 |
Gloves |
9515 |
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10/1/2018 |
University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign |
RC4226 |
Gloves |
71 |
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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
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
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 Ryan
| Move forwad with FAR and ISR called Grinder energy, ship it to sanitary district to make energy, move towards all dining halls |
| Ikenberry: Informaiton system, weigh waste and display in real time, scale and digital display, update on website, competition based on other schools |
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.
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)
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.
