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  1. Waste Reduction Challenge Wrap-up

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Sustainability Month - Waste Reduction Challenge
    Campus Sustainability Month

    Good morning! First, we would like to congratulate you on completing the second annual Waste Reduction Challenge. You should be extremely proud of yourself for your dedication to tracking waste, whether it was all four weeks or just one. We hope this challenge opened your eyes to the amount of waste we generate and that you use what you learned going forward in your everyday life.

    As promised, later this week we will send an email with raffle winners and statistics on how we did as a group in reducing our waste. To stay connected with fellow participants and be reminded of all things sustainability with U of I, sign up for the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment newsletter. Also, join the Waste Reduction @ Illinois Facebook group! The group has over 100 members and is the place to communicate and share ideas with fellow sustainability rockstars.

    In addition to the Facebook group, check out these links to participate in sustainability activities and continue learning more:

    ·        Sign the "Use the Bin Pledge" - pledging to always use the recycling bin!

    ·        If you are on the Illinois campus, check out our Greener Campus Certification opportunities (for offices, events, and Greek chapters)

    ·        Watch the new (brief) sustainability training video - and take the survey afterward!

    ·        Read the iCAP 2020

    ·        If you missed any of the information throughout the challenge, here is a folder with all of the links and guides.

    ·        Monday, November 15 is America Recycles Day! How will you celebrate? We'd love to see you at the monthly iSEE TED Talk: Eco-Edition series from 6 - 7 PM on Zoom. Sign up here.

    Again, big congratulations on completing this month-long challenge. Attached is a guide with tips on going forward from here. This is just a starting point! Continue trying to live as sustainably as possible and set a positive example for your friends and family members. Remember, "we don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly" (Anne-Marie Bonneau).

    If you have not already done so, please submit your Week 4 Google Form and grid as soon as possible. As always, please feel free to continue to reach out to us with any questions, comments, or feedback. We look forward to interacting with you on the Facebook page, via email, and at future events!

    Have a great week and thanks again!

    Emily (iSEE Sustainability Intern) and Meredith (iSEE Sustainability Programs Manager)

    Attached Files: 

  2. October 22, 2021 Illini Lights Out Results

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Lights Out

    The second Illini Lights Out event of the year was held on Friday, October 22nd, 2021. There were about 100 more volunteers than last time, with the total number of volunteers coming to 185 people! Volunteers shut off 3266 light bulbs and saved 5634 kWh of energy, 4 metric tons of CO2, and $474. Thanks so much to the volunteers who made this possible!

     

    The next Illini Lights Out event will be Friday, November 12th at 5:30pm. Students, sign up at the link below and meet at the Foreign Language Building lobby!

    https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSehaxolPWKdnvOVe2T61XcjXHrL16oC...

  4. Urbana Campus Spill Containment Exercise on Tuesday

    Associated Project(s): 
    Rainwater Management

    F&S, the Division of Public Safety, and the Champaign Fire Department will conduct a spill containment exercise on the morning of Tuesday, Nov. 2. Event organizers will place the dye in storm drains near the university's oil storage tanks on South Oak Street to simulate a large oil spill from the fuel farm during this year's mock scenario. The exercise is required annually by the U.S. EPA.

    November 2, 8 am • South Campus and the Embarras River Watershed

    Bill Walsh • Facilities & Services

    Urbana Campus Spill Containment Exercise on Tuesday

  5. "How Can We Reduce Waste from Agricultural and Food Systems?"

    Associated Project(s): 
    iSEE Congress
    Food Waste Reduction

    True food circularity must include waste reduction on the agricultural and consumer sides. Don't miss this third iSEE Congress webinar on "Circular Food Systems," with Brian Roe, Van Buren Professor of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics at Ohio State; and Tom Theis, Director of The Institute for Environmental Science and Policy, University of Illinois Chicago. Register here >>>

    November 3, 12–1 pm • Zoom webinar

    Julie Wurth • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

    "How Can We Reduce Waste from Agricultural and Food Systems?"

  7. Design for America Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Build Resilience with Our Local Community
    Design for America

    Meeting 10/29/2021

    Present:  Anisha, Ananya, Pooja and Stacy Gloss

    The project idea that the students would like to pursue is Making connections between pollution and people – focused on smart phones, tablets, computer e-waste generated by students. The student group may consider various technologies in their project: laptops, gaming consoles, wearable tech.

    They will research:

    • Material Sourcing  / ethical sourcing  (What are major parts/tech of smart phone and how they are produced? Conditions? Environmental Impact?)
    • Manufacturing / Ethical production
    • Transportation
    • Sales
    • Purchasing frequency/habits/thoughts: What do students think about environmental impact of technology when purchasing technology?
    • End-of-product-life (what happens to products after their use?) – What do people think happens? What really happens?
    • Other considerations: data centers

    Project members may reach out to people in the community who are already knowledgeable about recycling to such as:

    For the next meeting the DFA group should be prepared with the specific research questions they want to answer by conducting this research and their thoughts on research methods --- these questions should inform their approach for the project and related initiative they will want to develop. They will also review the Zero Waste  iCAP portal page for resources. https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/themes/zero-waste

    Research Methods:

    Question:  Are there any special considerations (for example IRB) for DFA students to create a survey for campus on how often students purchase / throw away / recycle smart phones? Are there any processes that need to be followed within ISEE to do this research?

    Other questions:

    Is there a recycling coordinator on campus that has any data about e-waste on campus?

    Potential things to consider

    The group will think about how they want to visualize their project for impact. Students also are open to the audience at this point – could include campus and off-campus audience. Off campus audience members could be the Champaign County Climate Coalition.  Interactive presentation could be set up in a community location like a library. The students could present their project to an iSEE committee – like Zero Waste and Resilience.

  9. Walkability Audit Training Information Packet

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    Hello all,

     

    Thank you so much for helping out with data collection for the Walkability Audit project. As you all already know, the primary objective of this project is to conduct a thorough analysis of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) campus sidewalk network. Two surveys will be used to assess the walkway infrastructure on campus:

    1. Walkability Audit questionnaire: Assesses the general walkability of the map blocks
    2. Deficiency Reporting survey: Identifies specific deficiencies within a map block

     

    This project will help us identify the areas that are good for walking and areas that require attention. Data collected from this study will create a prioritization list of sidewalk preservation and improvement projects that will subsequently be used to create a Campus Walking Master Plan.

     

    All volunteers are required to fill out this form (https://forms.illinois.edu/sec/461765201) by Monday, November 1, 2021 12:00 PM for your preferred (3 preferences for each training) date and time for the

    • Virtual Training sessions (1 virtual training required) via Zoom
    • In-Person Test Data Collection training sessions (1-test data collection is required, more encouraged) at Illini Union and F&S (1501 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL)

     

    Please see attached the Walkability Audit Volunteer Training Manual. I recommend that you all go through this document before the training sessions. We will go over the training manual during the virtual training and answer any question you many have there. During the test data collection training, we will walk around a block and test the surveys.

     

    All volunteers will use their smart phones to collect data. So make sure that your phones are fully charged because the ArcGIS Survey123 app will use your current location and it will drain your battery. You all need to download the ArcGIS Survey123 app:

    1. For android users: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.esri.survey123
    2. For iOS users: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/arcgis-survey123/id993015031

     

    Once downloaded, you will all use the same F&S Data Collector login for this study! Once you have downloaded the app,

    • Click on “Sign in using ArcGIS Online”
    • On the next screen, use the following login information
      • Username: FandSDataCollector
      • Password: 2022UIwalk
    • On the Top-right corner of the screen, click on the initials
    • Click on Download Surveys
      • Download the 2021 UI Campus Deficiency Reporting survey
      • Download the 2021 UI Campus Walkability Audit survey

     

    I have divided all the volunteers in teams of fours (our own Fantastic 4s!) and assigned map blocks that each team has to cover. I will send more details about the teams and your assignments in a separate email (to the teams) in a bit. You can begin collecting data after you have completed both of the training sessions. I want this data by before the Fall break (Saturday, November 20, 2021).

     

    I highly appreciate your time and effort! Your help is invaluable to us and this project will have a real long-term impact on the University! Thank you,

    Sarthak

     

    Sarthak Prasad

    Sustainable Transportation Assistant

    Facilities & Services

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    Phone: 217-300-9575

    Email: sprasad9 at illinois.edu

     

  14. Use The Bin Pledge Temporary Tattoo Order

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste Messaging Campaign

    Order information for Use The Bin Pledge:

    • Website: https://www.temporarytattoos.com/product/?pid=custom-tattoo-regular-M
    • Dimensions: 2.0 x 2.0 inches
    • Quantity: 1000 (as per the original conversation)
    • White Option: Either "Flood White" or "Spot White"
      • To my understanding, "Flood White" would have a white square as the temporary tattoo. If we did "Spot White", I believe it would just be the text and the bin, with the white only being in the recycling logo and bottles.
    • Request "Digital Proof Required"
      • No additional price associated with this. But it would delay the shipment by 1-2 days.
    • Unit Cost: $0.15/tattoo
    • Total Cost: $149.75
    • Shipping: First Class USPS (Free)
    • Design: I've attached the digital rendering of the design to this email again!
    Attached Files: 

  15. Walkability Audit: Group meeting before training sessions begin

    Associated Project(s): 
    Walkability Study

    On Tuesday October 26, 2021, all members involved in the Walkability Audit project met to discuss the Final draft of the Walkability Audit Training manual. The Training Manual covers the following sections:

    1. Objective of the project, introduction and timeline

    2. Map of the campus divided into larger map blocks and smaller mini blocks

    3. Volunteer assignment

    4. Directions to perform the audit

    5. Detailed steps to download and use the ArcGIS survey 123 App.

    6. Instructions for '2021 UI Campus Walkability audit survey' (General questionnaire of 40 questions with explanation and diagrams)

    7. Instructions for '2021 UI Campus Deficiency reporting survey' ( Specific questionnaire detailing deficiencies under 8 categories)

     

    Previous comments/suggestions for both the surveys were taken into account and incorporated in order to create the final list of questions for the surveys. (Please see attached pdf) During the meeting, Stacey brought up the possibility of having a multiple choice option for the Deficiency reporting survey since there is a possibility of encountering more than 1 deficiency at the same location. However, due to the inability of the ArcGIS survey 123 app to register more than one deficiency per submission, we had to move forward with the previously decided 1 deficiency per submission option. 

    Training sessions will be held next week, everyday from Nov 1- Nov 6 (Virtual training sessions and in-person training sessions) for 1 hour each. These sessions are for the volunteers to understand how to use the ArcGIS survey 123 app and the nuances of the questions included in the audit for both the surveys. The deadline for the volunteers to complete the data collection is 20th Nov 2021.

     

  16. Coordinated Rainwater Management Brainstorming Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Build Resilience with Our Local Community
    Rainwater Management Plans

    10/25/2021 11:00 am

    Present: Brent Lewis, Betsy Liggett, Lisa Merrifield, Stacy Gloss

    Updates from Stacy:

    • Resilience team identified a next step on the iCAP objective review slides: “Resilience team to recommend campus to initiate an engineered rainwater master plan”
    • NGICP training for 4 F&S staff submitted to SSC as step-1 application
    • Stacy attended the GI conference Oct 20

    Updates from Lisa and Betsy:

    • Extension receiving funds to create state-wide GI reporting platform, working with NCSA
    • Lisa is hiring an Academic Hourly intern to work through summer 2022 for the biodiversity plan - this work is complementary to coordinated rainwater management plans and so this staff person may be able to work on planning objectives for coordinated rainwater management plans.
    • Lisa is recruiting someone with planning / engineering background to work on GI or biodiversity this summer.

    Coordinated Rainwater Plan

    We discussed the fit for Extension to be involved in coordinating rainwater management plans for our urbanized areas and campus. We brainstormed ideas on how coordination can take place, who should be involved, and started thinking about special topics to address.

    Green Infrastructure Mapping

    Work together with Extension and NCSA on the GI platform for Illinois. This work is starting soon.

    Next Steps

    • Follow up and plan to meet in December or January.   
    • Define rainwater management plan 
    • Define objectives for a rainwater management plan
    • Describe process for achieving those objectives
    • Attend planning meetings with Extension on GI platform & mapping

     

  17. Weekly Update: Slow week; Outside event with Urbana Parks District; Kid's Bike Giveaway

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Slower week as per usual with the coming of fall. We’re still mostly sold out of bikes as the ones we have been getting in are finicky and in need of uncommon parts.

    Last week, I tentatively set up an outside event for the spring with the Urbana Parks District. More details as that event develops.

    This week we’ll also get to planning for our participation/role in this winter’s Kid’s Bike Giveaway. We’ve certainly got the bikes for it!

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 32
    Sales: $366
    Memberships: 6 for $180
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $35

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  20. Engagement iCAP Team Meeting

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

    On Monday, October 25, the Engagement iCAP Team met to synthesize the themes of sustainability engagement discussed at the team's previous meeting. The four major working themes include: Awareness & Purpose, Technology & Visibility, Culture & Practicality, and Connection & Relationships. Moving forward, the team will break into sub-committees to pursue each of these themes. Meeting minutes attached.

    Attached Files: 

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