The Zero Waste iCAP Team submitted recommendation: ZW005 Water Bottle Survey on 3/2/22. The recommendation is attached, and states in summary:
"The Zero Waste Team recommends that a campus-wide survey be administered to gain a better understanding of drinking water behavior on campus."
Morgan White, Associate Director of F&S for Sustainability, sent the following email, declining PWR006.
===============
Hello Jen and Meredith,
I am writing this to close the loop on iCAP recommendation from 2015, and for posting on the iCAP Portal about this topic. In 2015, iSEE sent PWR006: Expanded Recycling to the Executive Director of F&S Al Stratman, from what is now the Zero Waste iCAP Team. The director over the waste transfer station at the time, Carl Wegel, asked the staff to investigate the accuracy of the potential income from expanding the plastics collections. Tracy Osby and Bart Bartels looked into it, and I was informed that in our local market there could be an increased cost to campus for collecting and recycling these additional plastics, rather than the projected increase of revenue. Additionally, the existing baler at the Waste Transfer Station was deemed incapable of handling the additional plastics, in its old age condition. For that reason, this recommendation was denied by F&S, in a discussion with the PWR SWATeam.
On a brighter note, we are currently working on hiring a full time Zero Waste Coordinator, who will be able to pursue this effort further. We also are grateful to the support of the Student Sustainability Committee, which funded a feasibility study to identify the costs of replacing the current baler. I have also discussed the funding needs for the new baler with Associate Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives Kim Kidwell and Senior Executive Director of Principal Gifts David Bruns, in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement.
F&S looks forward to continuing our partnership with iSEE to support the implementation of the iCAP 2020 objectives, and we look forward to reducing plastics on campus in the months/years to come.
Thank you,
Morgan
==============
See PWR006 Expanded Recycling transmittal and iWG assessment here.
The Sustainable Procurement (PWR019) recommendation was supplanted by ZW002 Join NERC Government Demand Recycling Demand Champions.
See PWR019 Sustainable Procurement Transmittal and initial Recommendation here.
See ZW002 Join NERC Government Demand Recycling Demand Champions - successful update here.
See State Recycling Organization Advocate with NERC project page here.
Aaron Finder, Assistant Director of the Purchasing and Contracts Management office, sent the following email on 2/9/22:
============
Hi Meredith,
I have met with NERC a couple time to get a better understanding of NERC and its Government Recycling Demand Champions program. Their Director, Lynn Rubinstein, and I discussed membership levels and the Purchasing and Contracts Management Office will join NERC as a “Supporting Member.”
Through our membership with NERC, we will also have the ability to participate in 4 active committees:
There will be limitations on how many participants we can invite to committee meetings or NERC conferences, but Lynn did say I could include at least one committee member (i.e. Tim Stark or Zero Waste Coordinator) if we participate in any event.
After we become members, we will become a State Recycling Organization Advocate within the Government Recycling Demand Champions program. This means we will commit to helping publicize the program and promote purchasing of products with post-consumer resin to their members and the public. While we are developing our EPP Guide, this seems to be the most appropriate classification.
I’ll let you know once our membership dues have been paid. I’m also sharing a couple documents Lynn provided.
Let me know if you have any more questions.
Thanks,
Aaron M Finder, mba cppb
==========
For future updates, see State Recycling Organization Advocate NERC project page here.
Dr. Jeff Moore, Director of the Beckman Institute, responded to Morgan White, Associate Director for F&S for Sustainability, with the following email on 1/18/22:
"Thank you, Morgan and Jennifer. We'll discuss this at our next meeting. On first glance, it looks like a prudent practice to follow."
See iWG assessment and transmittal of ZW004 Reusable Dining Containers Program here.
See recommendation and submittal of ZW004 Reusable Dining Containers Program here.
For future updates, please refer to the Reusable Containers project
The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Wednesday, February 9 to discuss the several recommendations in the works, including: Plastic Reduction in vending machines, Composting Commitee, Adopt a Highway/Drain, Food Literacy Project, and Sustainable Receipt options. Meeting minutes are attached.
Following the completion of iWG assessment for ZW004 Reusable Dining Containers Program, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Jeff Moore, Director of the Beckman Institute.
=============
Hello Dr. Moore,
The Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) Working Group (iWG) recently reviewed recommendation ZW004 from the Zero Waste iCAP Team (formerly known as a SWATeam) to implement the use of reusable dining containers. The iWG discussed this and recommends that Beckman Institute implement the option for reusable containers, as was done at Bevier Hall and University Dining. Please see the details included in the attached iWG assessment and Zero-Waste iCAP Team recommendation.
There are several advocates for reusable containers on campus, and a group of them met with the Zero Waste iCAP Team last July. The notes are available online at https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/project-update/zero-waste-icap-team-reusables-dining-meeting-notes-726 and may provide you with some initial insight into this recommendation. University Housing’s Dining Services is an excellent resource to assist, and the iWG and Zero Waste iCAP Teams are available, as well.
The Formal iCAP Procedures includes a section on campus unit responsibilities upon receipt of a recommendation, and we respectfully request your initial response to this recommendation by February 4, if possible. If you have any questions regarding this recommendation, we are happy to arrange a zoom call.
Sincerely,
Morgan
=========
See iWG assessment of ZW004 Reusable Dining Containers Program attached.
See iCAP Team Recommendation ZW004 Reusable Dining Containers Program here.
The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Thursday, January 27 to finalize the recommendations drafted at the end of last semester, the Water Drinking Behavior Survey and the Water Filter System Tracking. The team also discussed several recommendations they intend to pursue this semester, including: Adopt-a-Highway program, Food Literacy Project, Composting Committee, P Card Training and Sustainable Receipt options. Meeting minutes are attached.
The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Friday, December 3 to discuss and finalize the two recommendations related to the team's water bottle behavior change campaign. These include a drinking water behavior survey and a recommendation to track water filter systems on campus. Meeting minutes are attached.
The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Thursday, November 11 to review some data related to vending machine quantities and pouring operations, analyze the initiatives of some other universities, and begin discussing our campaign strategy. As some initial steps, the team devised some questions for a campuswide survey on drinking water behavior and discussed a recommendation to begin tracking drinking water filter stations on campus. Meeting minutes are attached.
The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Wednesday, November 3 to prioritize recommendations for this semester and plans for next semester. The team has decided to move forward with a drinking water campaign to recommend by the end of this semester, and the committee will break out into sub-teams for the upcoming semester based on several other working recommendations. Meeting minutes are attached.
Attached is the presentation compiled by Jenna Schaefer, a student on the Zero Waste iCAP Team, for the Campus Sustainability Celebration!
On Friday, October 22, the Zero Waste iCAP Team met to touch base on the status of last semester's submitted recommendations and potential recommendations that were proposed last semester. The team also held an ideation session to generate new recommendation ideas. Members will be filling out a form to identify their primary initiative interests before next meeting to serve as a starting point for the team's work. Meeting minutes attached.
The Zero Waste iCAP Team met on Wednesday, October 6 to complete the iCAP Objectives Assessment and discuss our team's assessment of progress on our 10 objectives. Meeting minutes are attached.
On Friday, October 1 the Zero Waste iCAP Team had their first meeting of the semester! The team discussed progress on last year's recommendations, zero waste initiatives from F&S, and the iCAP Objective Assessment for Zero Waste. Meeting minutes are attached.
Jenny Kokini, Managing Director of iSEE, responded to Morgan White with the following email:
--
Dear Morgan,
iSEE will be happy to pilot the GreenerOffice Delivery Service offered by Office Depot.
As a matter of fact, Amy, tried to place her first order today to Office Depot using the GreenerOffice Delivery Service. But no such option was given. So, she went to office depot outside the iBuy and found the page to sign up for. A form needs to be filled out. Amy put a service desk request ticket with purchasing to see if this can be implemented at University level given that it references University account. If Purchasing rejects filling out the form giving campus level GreenerOffice Delivery option, then Amy will fill out the form giving just iSEE the option of the GreenerOffice Delivery Service.
Best wishes,
Jenny
--
See iWG assessment and transmittal of ZW003 GreenerOffice Delivery Service Enrollment here.
See iCAP Team Recommendation ZW003 - GreenerOffice Delivery Service Enrollment here.
We had a great iCAP Team and iCAP Working Group Kickoff on 9/16/21! During the event, we heard from iSEE Interim Director, Dr. Madhu Khanna, went through the team rosters, iCAP Procedures, iCAP 2020 and progress made thus far, and lastly summarized other resources that sustainability advocates should be aware of.
The iCAP Teams and iCAP Working Group are instrumental in helping campus advance and achieve our sustainability goals and we look forward to a great year!
The presentation is attached and the recording is found here.
iSEE's Interim Director Madhu Khanna sent the Zero Waste iCAP Team a formal charge letter on Tuesday, September 14 detailing their campus sustainability duties this academic year. Full letter is attached.
Following the completion of iWG assessment for ZW003 GreenerOffice Delivery Service Enrollment, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Madhu Khanna at iSEE.
See iWG assessment of ZW003 - GreenerOffice Delivery Service Enrollment attached.
See iCAP Team Recommendation ZW003 - GreenerOffice Delivery Service Enrollment here.
Following the completion of iWG assessment for ZW002 Join NERC Government Recycling Demand Champions, the recommendation was transmitted to Brad Henson and Aaron Finder at the UIUC Purchasing Office.
See iWG assessment of ZW002 - Join NERC Government Recycling Demand Champions attached.
See iCAP Team Recommendation ZW002 - Join NERC Government Recycling Demand Champions here.
