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Projects Updates for Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)

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  1. 4 new EVs and new EV charging stations installed

    F&S has received 4 new Ford F-150 Lightnings all electric trucks, bringing the total to 6 Ford Lightnings and 1 Ford e-Transit cargo van for F&S fleet.

    We have also installed another level-2 Ford dual point smart chargers on the south side of PPSB and we are working on the installation on another one. We have 2 more chargers to install. The Charging Stations installations are being done using the SSC funding.

  2. Campus Transportation Advisory Committee (CTAC) spring 2023

  3. Bike Fee potential increase - discussion with SSC

    Sarthak Prasad, Morgan White, and Stacey DeLorenzo met with Jack Reicherts and Lucy Nifong from Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) to discuss a possible increase in the Bike Fee from $1 per semester per student to $3 per semester per student.

    SSC will lead the referenda and seek approval for this increase from the Student Fee Advisory Committee (SFAC). Sarthak Prasad has shared the Bike Fee proposals from FY17 to FY24 that were approved by the SFAC as supporting document. Sarthak will also share a possible proposal for FY25 and FY26 with the budget of nearly $250,000 per year.

  4. Pollinator Signage Final Report

    Several students apart of the Sustainability Living-Learning Community attended the 2017 AASHE Student Summit and participated in a Bee Campus USA workshop. These students decided that the University should obtain Bee Campus USA Certification for UIUC. Displaying signage focused on pollinator conservation was one of the requirements for this certification. Four signs were installed, and since their installment UIUC is a part of Bee Campus USA.

    Attached is the full report.

     

  5. Campus Sustainability Celebration - 10/17/22

    The 2022 Campus Sustainability Celebration was a huge success! Thank you to all who participated! The PowerPoint presentation is attached, and the agenda for the event was as follows:

    • 3-3:15 PM – Welcome
      • Jennifer Fraterrigo, on behalf of Director Madhu Khanna (iSEE)
      • Chancellor Jones
      • Vice Chancellor Susan Martinis (OVCRI)
    • 3:15 – 3:30 PM – Holistic initiatives
      • Plastic reduction (Jen)
      • Clean energy/Solar Farm 3 (Morgan)
      • Greener Campus Program (Meredith)
    • 3:30 – 4:40 PM – iCAP Team presentations
      • Energy
      • Transportation
      • Land and Water
      • Zero Waste
      • Education
      • Engagement
      • Resilience
    • 4:40 – 5 PM – Student groups (SSLC, SSC) – Jack Reicherts and Maiah Caise
      • Closing remarks by Jennifer Fraterrigo (on behalf of Madhu Khanna)
    • 5 – 6 PM – Celebration - refreshments, roundtable forum with each iCAP Team, student tabling session  
  6. Campus Sustainability Month Activities - Oct 2022

    One of our favorite times of the year is almost here… Campus Sustainability Month! Below is a highlight of major events and programs happening this October, though check out the iSEE Sustainability Calendar for the full list. This is the perfect time to take action and show your support for environmental consciousness (and the Illinois Climate Action Plan!). I look forward to seeing you across campus!

     

    • Plastic Reduction Challenge: Are you up to the challenge? From October 3–30, we provide the resources and point system to help you track your plastic use each week and find sustainable alternatives. The point system and fillable grid are attached, and additional information will be sent out prior to the start of the challenge. Take part with this fun and interactive community, and earn the chance to win a sustainability prize pack. It is easy to make a positive impact! Sign up here for the challenge.
       
    • Clothing Swap: This is the perfect opportunity to donate your clothing items and update your wardrobe! Join iSEE, SECS, and SSLC for this reduce/reuse event at the Channing Murray Foundation on Tuesday, October 11. Drop off clothes at Channing Murray the day before, or during the event itself from 10AM – 3PM.  All are welcome to drop off and/or participate (it’s free!).
       
    • Green Quad Day: Come check out the variety of student, staff, faculty, and community-led environmental groups on Thursday, October 13 from 11AM – 3PM at the Anniversary Plaza (cement area between the Quad and Union). This is a great opportunity to talk with and learn about the many sustainability efforts on campus. The rain date is October 17. If you are interested in representing your organization at a table, sign up here.
       
    • Water Taste Test: It’s 2022 – why are we still drinking from plastic bottles? Let’s put our tap water to the test and see, blindly, which water we prefer. Check out the iSEE table at Green Quad Day (above) and see if you can taste a difference between bottled water and tap! In the meantime, take our drinking water behavior survey (and win a chance for a $50 gift card).
       
    • Illini Lights Out: Join us to shut off lights in buildings around campus to save energy and reduce the environmental impact of our massive university! Meet at 5:30PM in the lobby of the Foreign Language Building on Friday, October 14 to receive brief instructions before heading out to turn off lights in assigned buildings. Come back to FLB (roughly 6:30) when you are done to turn in your clipboard, get a snack, and pat yourself on the back for helping to save so much energy! Register here, and come by yourself or bring a friend!
       
    • Campus Sustainability Celebration: All are welcome to attend this annual event on Monday, October 17 from 3-6PM at NCSA (auditorium and lobby), 1205 W. Clark St., Urbana. The first two hours will be spent in the Auditorium, where we will hear from campus sustainability leaders and from the iCAP Teams. Following the presentations (5-6 PM), each iCAP Team will have a table in the lobby/atrium area for roundtable discussion, suggestions, and a Q&A. Student environmental groups will have tables set up and together, we will enjoy conversation, light refreshments, and cake!
       
    • Trash Cleanup: Help keep our campus beautiful! On Wednesday, October 19, meet at Alma Mater at 4PM and join us to collect trash and recycling around campus until 5:30PM.
       
    • TED Talk: Eco-Edition Series: Tune in to this edition of iSEE’s ongoing Zoom series on Wednesday, October 26 from 7 – 8PM. Our host this month is Lucy Nifong, a senior in Agricultural and Consumer Economics, iSEE Communications Intern, and Vice Chair Internal of the Student Sustainability Committee. Participants will view a prerecorded TED Talk, followed by a guided discussion and roundtable on Campus Sustainability Month! Sign up here.
       
    • Sustainability BINGO: Fill out the iSEE board (attached) for a chance to win prizes! The board (PDF) includes sustainability-related activities and initiatives you can do across campus during Sustainability Month (Oct. 1-31). Make sure you document and let us know which actions you completed using the Google Form to be eligible for the prize drawing.
       
    • Have you gotten your office, event, or Greek chapter certified as Green yet? It’s easy to be sustainable! Get certified and be recognized!
  7. Scope Change and Extension request approved

    From: Student Sustainability Committee 
    Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2022 2:31 PM
    To: White, Morgan
    Cc: recycling@illinois.edu; Varney, Peter W 
    Subject: Re: Extension request for Dump and Run

     

    Hi All,

     

    This Scope Change was approved! Sorry for the late response!

     

    Please let us know if any additional information is needed on our end!

     

    Best,

     

    SSC

  8. Inquiry about SSC Micro Grants

    Sarthak Prasad reached out to Jack Reicherts to ask if SSC awards micro grants. 

    Jack replied with the message below, 

    Hi Sarthak,

     

    In the interest of streamlining things, I think we got rid of microgrants as of a year and a half ago or so. We still do student-led under $10k projects on a rolling basis, but everything else still goes through the normal 2-step process. If you ever need to connect with interested students, I’m happy to plug potential projects on our Discord server!

     

    Best,

    Jack

  9. Eco-Counter set installed and activated at Green and Goodwin

    A set of Eco-Counters were installed at the intersection of Green St and Goodwin Ave by Loomis Laboratory on Monday, May 9, 2022. This was a new set of counters with no groundbox, purchased in October 2021. This set of Eco-Counter was purchased using the SSC funding. These counters were activated on May 10, 2022, and they are now collecting and transmitting data. See attached the pictures of these counters.

  10. SSC Massmail 5/6/22

    The following email was sent to: Academic Professionals, Civil Service, Faculty, Extra Help, Graduate Students, Undergraduate Students, Incoming Graduate Students & Incoming Undergraduate Students

    MASSMAIL - Student Sustainability Committee (SSC) - Spring 2022 Update
    May 6, 2022 3:02 PM

    Hello from the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)! 

    If you have original project ideas to improve campus sustainability – or you want to help others make their sustainability projects a reality – then the SSC is for you. Please read on to learn about our history, funding, recent accomplishments, and how you can get involved!

    What is the SSC?

    We are a student-led organization that provides financial support to projects led by campus community members that promote environmental stewardship and student engagement on campus. These funds come from the Illinois Green Fund, which is composed of two student-initiated fees: the Sustainable Campus Environment Fee ($12.06/student per semester) and the Cleaner Energy Technologies Fee ($2/student per semester). 

    The committee was formed in 2002 by a group of passionate students fighting for the use of clean energy on campus. Today, we have expanded our scope from ongoing decarbonization efforts to include all facets of sustainability. SSC now consists of 18 enthusiastic student-voting members as well as many staff and faculty members who provide their expertise; together, we are an interdisciplinary team that is well equipped to determine which projects will best serve our campus community. Past projects have helped fund Eco-Illini, Solar Decathlon, Red Oak Rain Garden, Bevier Cafe's herb garden, the Illini Union’s recycling bins, CIF’s geothermal system, and many more! Each of these projects falls under one of the SSC’s Working Groups: Energy, Transportation & Infrastructure, Education & Justice, Food & Waste, Energy, and Land, Water, & Air.

    Over the past 20 years, the SSC has proudly dedicated $15.55 million to 316 individual projects, which have significantly improved campus sustainability and engagement.

    Recent Accomplishments

    Because the SSC receives funding from students to be used for students, it’s important to share our achievements with those who make the SSC possible: you! 

    Over the last two years, the SSC brought to life its longstanding goal of having a greater focus on student interaction and engagement. We added six new voting positions and restructured the committee to include entirely new branches dedicated to outreach in the form of our communications and social initiatives teams. We also officially began recruiting general members to encourage more students to have a voice in evaluating sustainability project applications.

    Through our increased outreach efforts, we have reached more campus environmental groups than ever. In October 2021, we co-hosted a month-long Student Sustainability Summit that included Green Quad Day, the Tuesday Talks at Bevier Cafe seminar series, a movie night, tours of university facilities, teach-ins, and a climate strike. We also programmed many Earth Month activities throughout April, hosting another Green Quad Day, more Tuesday Talks, and a showing of The Lorax at the Illini Union.

    Some other initiatives that we had the privilege of working with and funding this year include: 

    • The first-ever Sustainability Grammys to recognize all the amazing work that environmental RSOs do on campus, co-hosted by iSEE’s Greener Campus Office
    • The development of a single-use plastic reuse and elimination protocol at the Brinkworth Lab
    • The Sustainable Lab Network, which will compile a database of sustainability education resources
    • Fume hood upgrades in Morrill Hall to decrease energy demand
    • The Sustainability Mural Project to highlight the university's sustainability initiatives

    A collection of proposed, completed, and ongoing SSC projects can be found on the iCAP Portal.

    The SSC is also excited to announce our role as an organizer of the Reimagine Our Future Undergraduate Sustainability Competition that will take place in fall 2022. This competition challenges students to work independently or in interdisciplinary teams to research and solve a problem related to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. For the first time, the competition will have an international scope. Students will have the exciting opportunity to form teams with students from other participating universities around the world, and, for the time commitment of a 1-credit hour course, your team could win up to $2,000. The competition application will open this summer; visit the competition website often and subscribe to the SSC mailing list to stay updated! 

    How to Get Involved

    • Have a project idea that will improve campus sustainability and/or student engagement? Submit an application for funding! Even if you just have an idea but aren’t sure how to make it into a project yet, our working group chairs can help you develop your idea. Student-led projects under $10K are accepted on a rolling basis, while all other projects are accepted on a semesterly schedule. 
    • Interested in reviewing project applications and voting on how to allocate grant funding? Apply to be a board member – the deadline is Wednesday, May 11! The time commitment to be a board member is approximately three hours a week.
    • Want to join the SSC community in a lower commitment level role? Become a general member! You can attend social events and biweekly working group meetings (where we meet with applicants and discuss proposed projects), all of which can be found on our calendar. General members are welcome to attend any number of meetings – just one or all! 
    • Subscribe to our mailing list or follow us on Instagram @ssc_uiuc to stay up-to-date on everything that’s going on with the SSC!
    • Join our Discord server, accessible from U of I’s student hub to participate in the sustainability community!

    Have a great weekend and remember to take some time to relax between finals!

    Julia Marsaglia
    Communications Coordinator, Student Sustainability Committee

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