Earth Day – April 22, 2015 marked the 45th anniversary of the environmental movement. Earth Day is the largest civic event in the world, celebrated simultaneously around the globe by people of all backgrounds, faiths and nationalities. More than a billion people participate in Earth Day campaigns every year.  On our campus, we typically celebrate the entire week. Earth Week is a time to enact change and real movement toward consciousness about how our decisions affect our campus environment and the planet. Earth Week activities are coordinated by Students for Environmental Concerns (SECS) and co-sponsored by iSEE. iSEE will continue to support Earth Day activities.

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As of March 18, 2020, iSEE is sponsoring a full Earth Month in response to COVID-19.  Thus, the Earth Week project is being moved to under the Earth Month project in the iCAP Portal. ~Morgan

All:

Staying consistent with the guidelines issued by the CDC and University of Illinois effective Friday, March 20, 2020 at 3PM the sort line will be closed at the University of Illinois Waste Transfer Station until further notice Enumerated below are the changes effective 3/20/2020:

• DSC staff has been notified and will not be sending their staff to the waste transfer station starting Monday, March 23, 2020.
• No waste will be sent to the sort line. All collected mixed waste will be sent directly to the landfill.
• Pre-sorted materials such as a paper and cardboard will be continued to be collected and processed on the floor as normal.
• Pre-sorted materials such as bottles and cans will be stored in a roll-off container to be processed at a later time.
• All staff that will continue to work during this time at the WTS must adhere to the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Please note that there will be no change in waste and recycling collection schedules. Facilities and Services will continue to collect source separated trash and recycling from campus dumpster there will be no change in collection service. As there will be no material going to the sort line we do not anticipate an increase in material as most of campus is currently working remotely. Facilities and Services will be working with Area to monitor generation and evaluate if additional hauling service would be needed.

We thank you for your support and understanding during these unprecedented times. As always, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to reach me or my team directly.

A Scope Change Request for Dump and Run is attached below.

Hello all,
 
Shantanu and I have held a few planning meetings with Marc and Kasey from the YMCA for Dump & Run.  We’ve talked with F&S communicators and the staff who will be clearing out of the space we intend to use.  Shantanu has put together a draft communications plan, and he identified an improved collection container which we can purchase with the Student Sustainability Committee funds.  We also began planning for a community drop off location that would not be at the F&S building.
 
On Friday, Bryan Johnson arranged a quick phone call with Shantanu, Bryan, me, and Joe Glass at Housing.  We discussed the changes in campus and the anticipated student behavior, related to living in the residence halls.  We talked about the potential for several students leaving at random dates throughout the remainder of the semester, and how we could potentially still collect materials.  We also talked about the possibility of needing to cancel entirely for this year.  Ultimately, that decision will need more clarity about who is here in May.  Because we will not know which students choose to come back to campus after spring break until at least March 23, we are going to have a follow up discussion on 3/25.  
 
In the meantime, I am cancelling the meeting we had scheduled for tomorrow.  Our next group meeting will be on April 14 at 1pm, and it will be a Skype call.
 
Thank you,
Morgan
 

Hello F&S Boneyard Creek Community Day Team! I just received correspondence from the Champaign Park District that the 2020 BCCD event is cancelled until further notice due to COVID-19 and volunteer availability.

The Champaign Park District will update the event website soon and CRC will help update the Facilities & Services and also the Safety and Compliance websites.  

Please share this information with others and thank you for offering to make this community event a success!

Betsy

Betsy J. Liggett
University of Illinois, Division of Safety and Compliance
Environmental Compliance

Ned Beecher - special projects manager with the North East Biosolids and Residuals Association (NEBRA) - will discuss the fate of several representative contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) in biosolids and wastewater; summarize risk assessment and risk management strategies used to reduce potential concerns; and discusses PFAS as a family of CEC that is currently of high interest.

March 19, 12–1 PM Elizabeth Meschewski • Illinois Sustainable Technology Center  This opportunity is available online.

Sustainability Webinar: PFAS in Biosolids and Wastewater

Mr. Apfelbaum will tell us about his life-long project to restore his land on the border of Wisconsin, taking it back to its original state, before the changes brought about by farming, described in detail in his book Nature’s Second Chance. Having carried out ecological restorations world-wide, he is presently working in Urbana, restoring the Stone Creek golf course to its natural state. 

March 12, 6:30 PM • Stone Creek Golf Club (Formerly known as Attie's), 2560 Stonecreek Blvd Urbana, IL

Amanda Christenson • Cooperative Extension Service

Restoring the Ecology of Stone Prairie Farm