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Projects Updates for theme: all

  1. 2/23/24 Event

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Lights Out

    At Friday's Illini Lights Out event, 3,686 light bulbs were shut off that otherwise would have been left on all weekend, saving $560.80 in energy costs. This also prevented 4.4 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 500 gallons of gasoline being consumed. That's a huge impact!

     

    The next Illini Lights Out event is on Friday, March 22nd, and you can sign up using this link. Stay up to date with other sustainability-related events and news by signing up for the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) newsletter here!

  4. Discussion about updating iCAP recommendations - February 21, 2024

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    Miriam Keep, Sarthak Prasad, Christina Tran, and Michael McKelvey met to discuss a proposed structure for updating iCAP recommendations.

    Agenda

    • Discussed structure outlined in iCAP Portal Admin Meeting - February 2, 2024 under Discussion/Decisions section plus attached file
    • Christina walked through the Figma Recommendations mockup she created, showing the workflow of the current approach and the proposed new approach. Notable changes:
      • Remove duplication of effort by providing only one place to enter information about a new Recommendation status
      • Once basic structure is in place, adding new Recommendation updates will require minimal extra work
      • Current Recommendation status and history can be automatically shown in multiple places across the iCAP Portal, either for individual Recommendations or all Recommendations under a Team

    Discussion

    • Miriam requested a "Next Steps" text field on Project Updates (in the Recommendations tab), visible only to people with iCAP roles (i.e. clerk and above)
    • Discussed using Tasks section in Project Updates to keep track of pending tasks related to Project Updates (especially helpful for Recommendations). Pending Tasks are Project Updates which have a due date and no completion date. See Pending Tasks page.

    Questions/Proposals

    • Propose allowing a Team to have no associated Theme. This currently only impacts the iWG Recommendations Team, since there is no Implementation theme.
    • Propose removing "Recommendations Summary" projects associated with each team (e.g. Resilience iCAP Team Recommendations Summary). The need for those projects will be supplanted by the automatically generated page for each team.

  5. Engagement iCAP Team Meeting Minutes 2/21/2024

    Associated Project(s): 
    Engagement iCAP Team
    Sustainability Literacy Assessment
    Sustainable Events Program

    The Engagement iCAP Team met on 02/21/2024 to touch base on the ongoing Sustainability Literacy Survey. The Engagement iCAP Team is currently collaborating with other iCAP teams to generate questions to include in the survey. The group also discussed member collaboration with other universities to survey residence hall sustainability recommendations. Other upcoming iSEE events were also discussed. 

    Attached Files: 

  7. iSEE newsletter - green career forum

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability at Career Fairs

     

     

    Blue background with green image of a piggy bank: Green Career Forum. Invest in yourself, invest in the environment. 1-4 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 27. 2024, Illini Union Ballroom.

     

    		  

    Green Career Forum Next Tuesday!


    Looking for a career in sustainability? Invest in yourself and the environment by attending iSEE's Green Career Forum on Tuesday, Feb. 27! Illinois students meet with "green" employers from government, industry, and the nonprofit world, including the Wetlands Initiative, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, clean energy companies, and firms specializing in environmental design, ecological restoration, or manufacturing. Co-hosted by the Illinois Career Center and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, this free event is scheduled for 1-4 p.m. at the Illini Union Ballroom. No advance registration is required!  

     

  8. iSEE newsletter - solar car

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Solar Car

     

     

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    Illini Solar Car Visits Chicago Auto Show


    Calypso, the newest solar-powered vehicle built by the Illini Solar Car project, made its debut at the Chicago Auto Show this month! It's the first time a car built by the U of I student organization has appeared at the nation's largest auto show. The 2024 entry will compete at the Electrek Formula Sun Grand Prix in July. A grant from the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC), which allocates student fee revenue from the Illinois Green Fund, supports the Illini Solar Car's 200-member project team!

     

  9. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Most surprisingly, we sold a bike on Friday during the snowy times. Odd timing but if you need a bike, you need a bike! Can’t argue there. Got a new hire in pipeline, gearing up for some warmer weather this week. Probably means some busyness around here.

    Been working with my staff on lacing up wheels. Can’t speak highly enough of the instructional book and the staff have taken to it admirably.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 21
    Sales: $493.50

    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $160

    Memberships: 5 for $150

    Tires/tubes: 9 for $95

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  10. Zero Waste iCAP Team Meeting Minutes 2/19/2024

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Adopt Environmentally Preferred Procurement (EPP) Guidelines
    Sustainable Procurement
    Sustainability Literacy Assessment

    The Zero Waste iCAP Team Met on 2/19/2024 to discuss initiatives regarding environmentally preferred procurement, updates on the university's participation with Coca-Cola buyback, and recyclopedia feedback. The Engagement iCAP team chair, Codie Sterner, joined to discuss the sustainability literacy survey. The Zero Waste Team will come up with questions to add to the survey. 

    Attached Files: 

  11. 02-12-24 Dump & Run Meeting 2

    Associated Project(s): 
    Dump and Run

    Attendance: Pete Varney, Dan Hiser, Miriam, Bryan Johnson, Thurman Etchison, Daphne Hulse

     

    Agenda

    1. Determine exact remaining budget for this year (Daphne)

      1. $5,951.38 in SSC fund

      2. $6,992.19 spent for the 2023 program

    2. Identify locations for Orchard Downs & Ashton Woods (Mark, Bryan)

    3. Reassess all previous locations & confirm (Mark, Bryan)

      1. Box truck sizes on Euclid - donation partners

      2. Babcock Hall - inquire with driver on the northernmost suggestion

      3. Sherman Hall - inquire with driver

    4. Inquire with Housing communications team about opportunity for advertisement + communications for Orchard Downs, Ashton Woods (Mark, Bryan)

    5. Loop in Jenna (Project4Less) into food pantry donation conversations (Thurman, Daphne)

      1. Connected with the Eastern Illinois Food Bank - setting up meeting to discuss logistics

    6. iSEE - what materials will be collected? (Miriam)

      1. Out of office - reconnect later

    7. Assign locations to non-profit partners, once locations are determined (Daphne)

     

    Action Items

    1. Connect with driver for shipping containers, ensure access to locations (Daphne)

      1. Confirm all locations with Stacey DeLorenzo (Daphne)

    2. Connect with non-profit groups, confirm participation (Daphne)

    3. Confirm graduate halls move out timing (Mark, Bryan)

    4. Marketing materials from Housing - posters, digital sign (Mark, Bryan)

    5. Confirm iSEE’s plan for integration (Miriam, Daphne)

    Attached Files: 

  13. Refrigerant Solutions with Tradewater

    Associated Project(s): 
    Refrigerants

    Message from Eli Etzinioi from Tradewater:

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

    Hi Miriam,

    Eli from Tradewater here! It was great to meet you at the Higher Ed Climate Summit session on offsets, and to hear a bit about how you’re navigating climate action planning at UIUC.

    I’m looping in Ray Rieling, our lead on refrigerant inventories/quantification, safe destruction, and development of the resulting offsets in partnership with universities. His program is called Tradewater Refrigerant Solutions.

    As a reminder, Tradewater is headquartered in Chicago, with our main operations warehouse located in Elk Grove Village. Since you’re nearby, we could potentially arrange a visit to the warehouse which could be a great opportunity for you, colleagues, and sustainability-minded students to learn about how we test, store, and handle these high-GWP gases to prepare them for destruction.

    Would you like to set up a chat with Ray and I for some time after this long weekend? We can chat about logistics/timing of a UIUC visit to the warehouse, the opportunity for a refrigerant management inventory/project at UIUC, and any salient questions you have about offsets.

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

    Miriam forwarded the message to Morgan White, Jen Fratterigo, and Stacey DeLorenzo:

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

    Hi Jen, Morgan, and Stacey –

     

    I am sharing an email related to an opportunity to earn carbon offsets through the safe destruction of refrigerants. Second Nature is working with Tradewater to develop this opportunity to generate peer-reviewed carbon offsets that could be used to offset a portion of Scope 3 emissions. (This is quite different from third-party verified credits, and these credits could only be used to offset some of our own Scope 3 emissions and could not be sold on the VCM).

     

    Is this something you would be interested in learning more about? I really don’t know what we are currently doing with refrigerant waste – would it first be helpful to talk to someone who handles this directly?

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  16. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Run of the mill week here. Thanks to Todd for grabbing scrap over the weekend. This week I’ll grab some more bikes from the barn to fix up and/or scrap. Had a few sneaky ones that look good at first glance and are junk in the end. We’re getting a good stockpile of overhauled wheels ready for when folks’ bikes need new-to-them wheels.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 35
    Sales: $388.50
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $200
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tires/tubes: 2 for$8

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Coordinator -- Campus Bike Center

  17. Illini Lights Out Event 2/9/24

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Lights Out

    At Friday's Illini Lights Out event, 3,668 light bulbs were shut off that otherwise would have been left on all weekend, saving $588.50 in energy costs. This also prevented 4.7 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 532 gallons of gasoline being consumed.

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