Dear FY19 SWATeam members, As another academic year is about to begin, we want to first thank you for all of your help moving campus toward the goals outlined in the Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP). Each of the six SWATeams worked on multiple recommendations last year, and after careful evaluation by the iCAP Working Group (iWG), several recommendations are under consideration now at the appropriate campus units. Additionally, several prior SWATeam recommendations are continuing to show progress, such as the Solar Farm 2.0 project, which is likely to be approved by the Board of Trustees this fall.

Now, the iWG is gearing up for the drafting of the 2020 iCAP. Last year, we have received a lot of feedbacks from the SWATeams and the student body about the 2015 iCAP, our successes, and our areas for growth. After extensive consideration, we have reorganized the SWATeams as announced in the iSEE newsletter earlier this month. Soon we will be updating the email lists, so please do not be concerned if you are removed from a SWATeam email list and are planning to stay on the new team; all returning members will be added to the new SWATeam email lists, as they are created.

If you have any questions, please let us know and we’ll be happy to discuss this further. We thank you for your time, your enthusiasm, and your continuous efforts!

Sincerely,

Ximing Cai and Morgan White

iCAP Working Group, co-chairs

Following the completion of iWG assessment for PWR016 Motion Sensor Lighting, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Executive Director of Facilities & Services.

See iWG Assessment of PWR016 Motion Sensor Lighting attached.  The iWG asks, "Please provide the Zero Waste SWATeam with an overview of the existing occupancy sensor efforts. Please explain the direction of these efforts, reasoning, and status/progress to date."

See original SWATeam recommendation PWR016 Motion Sensor Lighting - Submittal.

Following the completion of iWG assessment for PWR015 Lightbulb Replacement, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Director of Facilities & Services.

See iWG assessment of PWR015 Lightbulb Replacement attached.

See SWATeam Recommendation PWR015 Lightbulb Replacement here.

Following the completion of iWG assessment for PWR014/ECONS008 Sustainability Ethics Training, the recommendation was transmitted to Dr. Evan DeLucia, Director of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment, who agreed that this is a great recommendation. Collaboration between the Zero Waste SWATeam, iSEE Communications team, and the University Ethics Office will result in training questions and videos to be included in the annual Ethics Training for staff and faculty.

See iWG assessment of PWR014/ECONS008 Sustainability Ethics Training attached.  The iWG recommends: "Council: We would like to pilot this as an optional, five minute addendum to the annual Ethics Traning. SWATeams: Work with the ethics office and iWG to recmmend questions by the end of October 2019."

See SWATeam Recommendation PWR014/ECONS008 Sustainability Ethics Training here.

These are the notes from the July, 2017 iCAP meeting.

These are notes from 6/7/2019 iWG meeting. They have been submitted in an informal style.

Dr. Mohamed Attalla, Executive Director of Facilities & Services, responded via email to iSEE Associate Director of Sustainability Ximing Cai affirming the intent of F&S to hire a full-time Zero Waste Coordinator:

"We have reviewed the PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator SWATeam Recommendation and iCAP Working Group Assessment, and we will proceed with hiring a full-time Zero Waste Coordinator. 

The key responsibilities for this position will be to “educate the campus on recycling, and to push for systemic changes to improve campus recycling” as suggested by the iWG. This position will report to Pete Varney and work closely with Morgan White.  Additionally, once the position is filled, that person will serve as the F&S staff person on the Purchasing, Waste, and Recycling SWATeam."

For future updates on this project, please visit Zero Waste.

See iWG Assessment of PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator here.

See SWATeam Recommendation PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator here.