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  1. Weekly meeting with Audrey Freeman: Tasks for the week of March 29th

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Telecommuting

    The Telecommuting & Commuter Program intern met with supervisor Sarthak Prasad on Monday, March 29th, 2021 to discuss updates on the program and goals for the upcoming week. Over the past week, they have researched different current telecommuting programs at the 14 other Big 10 universities and created a spreadsheet to document their findings. In the coming week, Sarthak will reach out to the HR department to gain more information on how faculty feel about working remotely at the University of Illinois. In addition, they will create a questionnaire for the Illinois HR department and a questionnaire for when they begin interviewing other universities about their respective telecommuting programs. They hope to collaborate with the transportation SWATeam to get feedback on their proposed questions. 

     

    Meeting minutes are attached!

    Attached Files: 

  2. Weekly Update: Bike sales, Fix-a-Flat, Friday Ride

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Much like the weather, we were up and down this past week. Sold a bike to a gentleman who’s planning to ride a portion of the Katy Trail in Missouri with his young daughter. I’ll take it as a good sign for future generations that I’m seeing young kids in here repeatedly.
    This week we’ve got a couple extra curriculars with our Fix-a-Flat class on Wednesday night and our first Friday Ride. I’ll meet with my staff to iron out the details for those two events.
    I’ll also be attending TBPs monthly meeting tonight.
    The numbers:

    Visitors: 20
    Sales: $691

    Bikes (refurb): 3 for $500
    Membership: 1 for $30
    U-locks: 3 for $63 (yay safety!)

     

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  3. Update: BTAF - Next Steps

    Associated Project(s): 
    Big Ten & Friends Sustainability

    A couple of updates were sent out on March 29, 2021 regarding Big Ten & Friends Sustainability (BTAF.)The following are two messages sent on behalf of Lydia Vandenbergh, the Associate Director of Employee Engagement and Education at Penn State University:

    Message #1:

    Friends,

    Great to see many of you at our last call and despite the pandemic, sustainability is progressing at our campuses. The minutes (prepared by MSU's Laura Young) are evidence of that fact. Emanating from the two-hour discussion are a few obvious next steps.

    1. The group voted to hold routine discussions and instead of a long meeting scheduled to coincide with the virtual AASHE conference, the group is interested in a longer discussion in the summer. So Amy and I have scheduled calls for the following dates. Please mark your calendars and I will send out an invitation closer to the date.
      1. Thursday, May 20th from 9 to 11 EST
      2. Thursday, July 22nd from 9 to noon EST (3 hours)
      3. Thursday, September 23rd from 9 to 11 EST
    2. Over the past year, we have seen the success of our members collaborating to benchmark best practices for the Green Office Certification programs. This and the anti-racism group's effort demonstrates the value of working together as we face increased challenges of budget and staffing changes. Several topics arose in the call that attracted interest for new affinity groups. What Amy and I have seen work successfully is for two people to co-chair the group. Start with a grounding session and then decide on priorities. Once these are set, identify sub-leads for the smaller working groups. This shares the workload and covers multiple topics in depth.
    3. The topics and the people who expressed interest are outlined below with yellow highlighting. Amy will be in touch to organize the Athletics and tree groups and I will kick off the reusable container team. We don't have a lead for the Times Higher Ed assessment.
    4. After our gathering, Brenda Van Cleare of OSU wrote wondering if anyone is interested in water reduction strategies. If this topic is of interest, contact Brenda at vancleave.13@osu.edu
    5. Want to connect with other members of the BTAF network? The master list resides on Google and everyone has access. We have listed all the affinity groups that spurred interest in our meetings. Please visit the list to ensure that your information and affinity group enthusiasm is correct.
    6. Ready for some inspiration? Grab a mug of whatever and read through the updates.

     

    Message #2:

    Greening Athletics, Sports for Climate Action/UNFCCC

    • Interested individuals: Julie Cahillane, Northwestern; Sinead Soltis, University of Illinois-UC; Shane Stennes, University of Minnesota; Tom Reeves, OSU; Amy Bulter, MSU lead

    Tree Policies and the roles they can play in branding, ghg reduction strategies, and conservation

    • Amy will take lead to schedule follow up call. Let Amy know if there are 1-2 students you’d like invited. Can bring in arborist, professors that does research in this area. Interested individuals Julie Cahillane, Northwestern; David Cullmer, Penn State; OSU – Tony Gillund to identify rep; Jake McCulloch, UW-Madison; University of Minnesota – Shane to identify representative; Makayla Bonney, Indiana; Lisa Sanzenbacher, UIC

    SDGs in the curriculum and Times Higher Ed reporting - the latter is similar to STARS, but emphasizes research and curricular activities more than AASHE.    

    • Affinity Group Interest and Discussion Areas
    • Interested schools: Shane Stennes, University of Minnesota - Doing THE assessment and SDGs in curriculum come up as well.; Anna Oetting, Nebraska. 

    Reusable Containers - lots of interest in this topic

    • A lot of interest in chat on this topic. Mary Leciejewski (OSU) willing to lead. Interested individuals: Carla Iansiti, MSU; Makalya Bonney, Indiana; Allison Mihalich, Notre Dame; Tom Reeves, OSU; Shane Stennes, UMN, Anna Sostarecz of Penn State and Julie Cahillane (NW)

     

  4. Congratulations for completing the Plastic Free Challenge!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plastic Free Challenge
    Zero Waste Messaging Campaign

    Good afternoon, Congratulations on completing the Plastic Free Challenge! You should be incredibly proud of yourself for your dedication to waste reduction this past month. We hope this challenge revealed some of your personal waste habits and prompted you to think about actions you can incorporate into your lives (and encourage others to incorporate!) to decrease your personal environmental footprint. Please don’t forget to share what you have learned this past month with friends, family, and peers. Keep up the momentum!

    If you have not already, be sure to submit your Week 4 Google Form by Monday, March 29. Please submit a photo or short video of a sustainability action or tip that you are proud of from this past month or would like to share with others. As mentioned last week, we will reach out to you one last time on Thursday with some exciting announcements: the raffle winners and statistics on how we did as a group reducing our plastic waste over the past month. 

    Although grid and point-tracking are no longer required actions, we hope you continue to be conscious of your plastic use this week and beyond. We are very impressed with everyone’s insightfulness and reflection during this challenge - don’t stop now!

    We hope you continue to keep in touch with us and reach out with any questions or comments; we always love talking about sustainability and would be thrilled to discuss with you further! Earth Month is right around the corner - please check out the continuously-updated sustainability calendar of events (both virtual and in-person opportunities). To close out the March Plastic Free Challenge, we hope you join us this Tuesday, March 30 from 7-8 pm for our second Ted Talk: Eco-Edition event, hosted by senior Maddy Liberman and F&S/ISTC staff member, Shantanu Pai. This month, the focus will be on plastics. Together we will watch a pre-recorded Ted Talk followed by a casual discussion and roundtable. Sign up here to register for this online event.

    Be sure to sign the "Use the Bin" pledge to commit to sustainable action and personally pledge that you ensure your recyclable items always make it into the appropriate receptacle. Thank you for a great month, and congratulations once again! Have a wonderful week and talk to you on Thursday.

    Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainable Programs Coordinator
    Emily Dickett, iSEE Sustainability Intern

  7. Engagement SWATeam Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Engagement iCAP Team
    Sustainability Engagement and Outreach

    The Engagement SWATeam met on Friday, March 26 to refine current proposed recommendations, including a General Education Board Sustainability Task Force and Code of Conduct revision. The team plans to submit its General Education Board recommendation by Tuesday, March 30 in time for the next iWG meeting. Additional information on the meeting is included in the attached meeting minutes.

    Attached Files: 

  8. 3/26 Zero Waste SWATeam Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Increase Recycling through the WTS
    Reusable Containers
    Develop Sustainable Purchasing Policies

    Attached are the meeting minutes from the Zero Waste SWATeam meeting on 3/26. The agenda is as follows:

    • ZW002 NERC Recommendation (+comments)
    • ZW003 GreenerOffice Delivery Program
    • ZW004 Reusable Dining Options (+comments)
    • Roundtable Discussion (if necessary)
    Attached Files: 

  10. Week 4 - Tips and Resources

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plastic Free Challenge

    Good afternoon! We are feeling bittersweet that this is our last week of the first Plastic Free Challenge. We are so grateful and impressed by each and every one of you for your participation and focus throughout this month’s challenge. There are 139 of you registered for the challenge; together, we make up a beautiful community of individuals on our way to living a life with less plastic! 

    Our final tip of the challenge is a guide on how to live sustainably beyond the challenge. In a few days, you will no longer have to tally your plastic items or receive emails every week to hold you accountable, reminding you to keep up the hard work. The attached guide contains tips for moving forward. We encourage you to reflect on your own. Did you discover something interesting or helpful? Did you try something new? As always, we’d love to hear and we also hope you share this knowledge with friends, family, and the Waste Reduction @ Illinois Facebook group if you choose!

    One next step outlined in the attached guide is Plastic Free July -- a global movement uniting against plastic use. Plastic Free July is observed by millions of people across the world and it is similar to this challenge as you will receive resources and play a part in a broader community of sustainable individuals. If you enjoyed this challenge, we highly encourage you to check out Plastic Free July!

    As this month-long challenge is coming to an end, we are sure you are all wondering what comes next. We will check in again on Sunday reminding everyone to submit their Week 4 Google Form and grid. In the meantime, try estimating your plastic footprint. Did it change since the beginning of the challenge? After the grids are all submitted, we will raffle off two sustainability packs using a random name generator. Your name will be entered one time for each week you participated in the challenge and submitted a grid. Next Thursday, we will reveal the winners and also include statistics on how we did as a group throughout the challenge. 

    Don’t worry, this won’t be the last time you hear from us. April - Earth Month - is right around the corner and there is a lot to look forward to. We will talk to you again on Sunday - finish strong and have a great rest of the week! 

    Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainable Programs Coordinator

    Emily Dickett, iSEE Sustainability Intern

    Attached Files: 

  12. Progress meeting with F&S

    Associated Project(s): 
    Meadow at Orchard Downs

    Izabelle met with Morgan and Brent at F&S today. 

    • She shared that they met with Professor Mike Ward from NRES and get some advice, including herbiciding the full area, and possibly splitting the area in two for a pathway through the site for walkers.  To herbicide the full area, they are going to talk with Professor Ward a bit more and send us a plan for the herbiciding process.  Morgan said we will need a week to approve the plan, to make sure we have the reporting requirements handled correctly. 
    • They will also talk with Housing about their plans, to communicate with Orchard Downs residents appropriately. 
    • Red Bison has agreed to let them use the shed in the Arboretum and share tools.

     

  13. Building Sustainability Checklist

    Associated Project(s): 
    NRES 285: iCAP Sustainability Ambassadors

    The attached building sustainability checklist will be used to guide the NRES 285 students in conducting their assessments of five campus buildings (Union, Armory, Huff Hall, ECE, and Bevier Hall). This checklist was reviewed by a variety of stakeholders, including iSEE staff and F&S employees: Morgan White, Brent Lewis, Shantanu Pai, Paul Foote, Stacey DeLorenzo, Beth Leitz, and Maddy Liberman. 

    Attached Files: 

  19. Weekly Update: Getting busier, fixing bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, We’re definitely getting busier as we creep closer to “Everyone Rides” weather.
    Highlight of the week was a dad and daughter coming in with the daughter’s bike. Bad freewheel so we took it apart and cleaned/re-greased it. That kid was into it! She was eager as all get-out, loved every step of the process, refused dad’s help on multiple occasions, and wanted to know all the names of all the bike parts. A model visitor. Dad loved our education/recycling mission and shared a disheartening story about government-mandated lawnmower obsolescence.

    Elsewhere, I got some IT things sorted out that will help the bike center run more smoothly, picked up some bikes from the warehouse, and hired a new employee to help in advance of the warm/busy times.
    This week I’ll have the aforementioned employee start, host a staff meeting on Wednesday evening, and sit in on the SSC Coffee Hour for Transportation & Infrastructure on Thursday.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 16
    Sales: $511
    Memberships: 5 for $150
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
    Misc: $88

     

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  20. Week 4 - Plastic Free Challenge

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plastic Free Challenge

    Happy second day of spring, We would have loved to see an Illini win this afternoon, but what a great year for the Illinois men’s basketball team! Welcome to the final week of the Plastic Free Challenge! We cannot believe how quickly March is flying by and we are so grateful for your dedication to the process of tracking and reducing your plastic waste. You have one week left to push yourself outside of your comfort zone and try something new to decrease your waste! If you find that you have managed to either recycle or reuse items in your daily life, why not try something new by helping someone else or sharing a few tips with us! If you have not already, please submit your Week 3 Google Form by Monday, March 22.

    This Thursday, we will send the final tip of the challenge: how to go forward and live sustainably, even when the Plastic Free Challenge ends. You did not do all of this hard work to revert back to using disposable items or for “points”; now, it is time to use what you have learned and help others in their own path to waste minimalism. We encourage you to start thinking about what tips you will incorporate in your daily lives, what you still plan to work on and work toward, and everything you have learned this past month. Until then, enjoy your final week. As a group, let’s try to generate the least amount of points this week compared to the rest of the month!

    Here is the Week 4 Form. Please submit the form and grid by Monday, March 29. We look forward to checking in on Thursday with information about the end of the challenge, including the prize raffle. As you will see on the Week 3 and Week 4 Google forms, we are encouraging each of you to please send a photo or short video of a new sustainable action, story, or image that encompasses "plastic-free living" for you. For example, you can show off your bulk purchases or containers, recycling or composting in action, or even a reusable item that you regularly use instead of a disposable/single-use product. Don't worry about producing a high-quality video - this is supposed to be fun and not stressful! Feel free to upload this to the form or email us.

    Remember to reach out with questions, comments, or stories about your challenge experience. Do you have any feedback for us? Is there anything you particularly enjoyed or would like to see changed? We would love to hear!

    Have a great week and finish strong! 

    Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainable Programs Coordinator
    Emily Dickett, iSEE Sustainability Intern

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