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TED Talk: Eco-Edition Series on Water Conservation this Thursday!
Associated Project(s):Hello all and happy Sunday! We have our next TED Talk: Eco-Edition event on the topic of water conservation and policy on Thursday! Vica Otrubina, a graduate student in Civil & Environmental Engineering, is this month’s host. She will be showing a pre-recorded TED Talk from December 2019 by Kelsey Leonard, “Why lakes and rivers should have the same rights as humans” followed by a guided discussion. I am really looking forward to this topic and hope you are able to join!
The discussion will be held on Thursday evening, June 24, from 6 – 7 PM on Zoom. Register here. As always, all are welcome to attend. Grab a snack, invite anyone else who may be interested, and get ready for a thought-provoking and enlightening discussion in a casual environment – not to mention, a fun time with great folks! J Have suggestions for future TED Talk topics or hosts? Let me know!
Have a good week and see you on Zoom Thursday evening,
MeredithRecent Environmental Justice Projects
Associated Project(s):The following list was provided by Warren Lavey and includes a detailed description about recent Environmental Justice projects:
- Project for: Stop EtO (community environmental organization in Lake County, Illinois)
- Environmental injustice: air pollution from industrial activities affecting low-income, minority communities
- Status: ongoing
- Students involved: 4 (law and medicine)
- Project for: Forest Preserve District of Champaign County
- Environmental injustice: lower access to and use of parks and other resources by low-income, minority communities
- Status: ongoing
- Students involved: 1 (undergrad in integrative biology)
- Project for: Asociación Petón do Lobo (community environmental organization in Spain)
- Environmental injustice: waste from taconite mining operations threatening small, low-income farmers; national and regional governments denied residents access to environmental information and participation in licensing proceedings
- Status: ongoing
- Students involved: 7 (law)
- Project for: Little Village Environmental Justice Organization (community environmental organization in Chicago)
- Environmental injustice: proposed expansion of a truck terminal near an elementary school for low-income, minority students
- Status: completed (buffer with trees planted)
- Students involved: 2 (undergrads in public health and computer science)
- Project for: Friends of Riverfront Park (community organization in Peoria)
- Environmental injustice: proposed conversion to develop luxury apartments of 20+ acres of a city park that was financed by the federal Land and Water Conservation Fund and borders on affordable housing
- Status: completed (park conserved)
- Students involved: 2 (law)
- Project for: NAACP of Sandbranch, Texas
- Environmental injustice: lack of adequate water and sewage infrastructure for a town of low-income, minority residents
- Status: completed (state and federal funding obtained)
- Students involved: 2 (law)
- Project for: Gullah/Geechee Nation (African-American group in coastal South Carolina and Georgia)
- Environmental injustice: proposed highways disrupting cultural heritage sites for low-income, minority residents
- Status: completed (highway construction not approved)
- Students involved: 2 (law)
- Project for: Stop EtO (community environmental organization in Lake County, Illinois)
June 2021 IGSHPA Town Hall Event
Associated Project(s):Last week, an IGSHPA Town Hall event was held to discuss district geothermal.
Seventh Annual BeeBlitz
Associated Project(s):Calling all citizen-scientists! The Seventh Annual BeeBlitz will be on Saturday, June 26th, 2021 from 9-11 AM CDT!
To attend, meet at the Pollinatarium or go bee spotting in a forest, prairie, or backyard near you! Bring your camera or smartphone and be ready to snap photos of honey & bumblebees, then upload them to BeeSpotter to contribute to its database of Midwestern bee spottings.
Weekly Update: Shop cleaning; Bike donations; Juneteenth Freedom Ride; Moonlight rides
Associated Project(s):All, Made some progress last week on the surplus of scrap bikes that we’d been accumulating. Shop is looking cleaner. Thanks to Todd for picking that up this weekend. We got seven bikes donated from Champaign Cycle, which I was able to pick up on the bike trailer. One of those bikes was a very quick fix and is on the floor ready to be sold. We replaced a damaged fork and now the bike is orange and blue—how appropriate!
I interviewed and began the hiring process for a new student worker.
The community bike ride season is well underway as there was a Juneteenth Freedom Ride last Saturday and two moonlight rides happening this week—one on Friday and one on Wednesday. We’ll talk that up to any visitors this week.The numbers:
Visitors: 16
Sales: $508
Bikes (refurb): 2 for $290
Memberships: 2 for $60
Misc: 7 for $41Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Manager, Campus Bike CenterNet Zero Space policy discussion - notes
Associated Project(s):Morgan White, Brian Bundren, and Brad Klein met to discuss the net zero space policy. Morgan's notes are attached.
Attached Files:suggestion for servicing solar arrays
Associated Project(s):Perhaps there should be a standard developed for solar on buildings with monitoring and connectivity requirements. trouble shooting issues could go to a service contract to handle or there could be a work order for the F&S electricians. We should certainly train the campus electricians on everything that needs to happen for maintaining solar systems, or get a standing service contract.
Iron Workers are rolling out the new bins
Associated Project(s):Todd from the ironworkers shop has begun rolling out the bins as planned / verified. We still need to go through the rest of campus to get him more locations to complete. As Shantanu Pai is still in Chicago, Sydney who is the newest zero waste intern at F&S can facilitate the documentation and communication with the trades.
Archived Info - Previous Project Background
Associated Project(s):Interest in this project began in October 2017, at the AASHE Student Summit. Several residents of the Sustainability Living-Learning Community attended a workshop at this summit about the Bee Campus USA movement. These students were inspired by the progress of other universities and decided to start this project on our own campus. From that point on, the Sustainability LLC, Facilities & Services, Red Bison Ecological Restoration (RSO), and the Pollinatarium have collaborated to ensure the success of this project. The application process in this project must be done annually to maintain the Bee Campus USA certification.
Archive Info - Previous Project Description
Associated Project(s):Bee Campus USA is a nation-wide movement to support pollinators on university campuses. A university that is Bee Campus USA-certified proves that they are progressing in awareness, native plant landscapes, and safe pest management. The Bee Campus committee developed an official web page in spring 2018 and worked with Facilitites & Services to develop a University Habitat Plan. In addition, with funding from the SSC, we will be installing pollinator signage on campus in fall 2018.
Edu003 Sustainability Career Fair - Successful
Associated Project(s):Jennifer Neef, Director of the Career Center, responded to Meredith Moore and agreed to collaborate to incorporate sustainability into the Career Fairs, per the message below on 6/30/20.
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Hello Meredith,
Thanks for a great conversation.
The Career Center supports the iCAP Education goal of helping student finding meaningful employment related to sustainability. Our mission is to provide students with impactful services and resources that empower them to pursue career opportunities aligned with their interests, skills, values, and talents. I look forward to working with you and members of the task force in the coming year.
Jennifer M. Neef
Director===========================
See transmittal of Edu003 Sustainability Career Fair.
See SWATeam recommendation and submittal of Edu003 Sustainability Career Fair.For future updates on this effort, see Sustainability at Career Fairs.
Florida-Orchard Prairie Pollinator Signage
Associated Project(s):A 24" by 36" blank sign was installed at the corner of Florida Avenue and Orchard Street, by the Florida-Orchard prairie, near Orchard Downs and the Presidents’ House. The information planned to be featured in the sign will originate from the new Bee Campus brochure. This text will highlight the Bee Campus student organization, information about pollinators, as well as university and campus initiatives to be more pollinator-friendly. Thanks to funding by SSC, the signage will be ready for public display by the end of 2021!
See the attached files to view the installation of the blank sign!
Attached Files:Weekly Update: Summer operations
Associated Project(s):All, Getting steadily busier! Sold some bikes, helped some people. A anecdotal metric for busyness: last week was the first time I had to repeatedly and firmly ask someone to leave after we’d closed up for the evening.
Got the bike trailer fixed up so parts runs are easier. Had a planning meeting for LTN and BTWD last week. Looking forward to those events in the fall. Last week was a hot one, so I was especially appreciative of the A/C in the new bike center.
Former student worker Eric brought in a trash bag stuffed full of old clothes to use for rags. We’ve been short on rags since the pandemic hit so this was much needed and much appreciated.Still short staffed but patrons have been very understanding and in a way that functions like pulling off the training wheels of learning bike repair. Silver linings!
The numbers:
Visitors: 14
Sales: $677.50
Bikes: 3 for $490
Memberships: 2 for $60
Misc: $56
Thanks!Jacob Benjamin
Manager, Campus Bike CenterSSC Semesterly Report June 2021: Meadow at Orchard Downs Low Mow Zone
Associated Project(s):As a part of the terms of the funding agreement for Meadow at Orchard Downs Low Mow Zones, the Student Sustainability Committee released a semesterly report with key information about the project on June 14, 2021. The report can be viewed below.
Solar Energy on Campus Presentation 2021
Associated Project(s):Morgan White discussed various solar energy projects and future goals on campus.
Attached Files:Veo - May 2021 ridership overview
Associated Project(s):Please see attached the ridership information for May 2021.
Attached Files:Spring 2021 SSLC Board Meeting Minutes
Associated Project(s):Instead of assigning traditional and compartmentalized roles in a hierarchical structure, the new SSLC leadership decided to all share the title of “Co-President.” The Co-Presidents of the SSLC for the 2021-22 school year are Maiah Caise, Owen Jennings, Maria Maring, and Jack Reicherts.
The Co-Presidents met weekly during the last one to two months of the Spring 2021 semester, mostly to get acquainted with one another and establish the basic foundation of the revamped SSLC. Some of the highlights of those meetings include:
The SSLC now boasts three social media accounts: Facebook @sslcuiuc; Twitter @uiuc_sslc; and Instagram @uiuc_sslc.
There are two main ambitions that the SSLC hopes to pursue, in addition to the responsibilities that the Council has historically tended to: a campus-wide Sustainability Summit and some form of iCAP accountability promotion. Both of these initiatives are very early in the works. The Sustainability Summit will hypothetically take place during Sustainability Month (October) 2021, and it will be in collaboration with many on- and off-campus entities, most notably the SSC. iCAP accountability will likely take the form of a social media campaign, likely in heavy collaboration with SECs.
Energy007 Implementation of Comprehensive Energy Plan - Submitted
Associated Project(s):The Energy iCAP Team made the following recommendation on 6/8/21. The Energy007 Comprehensive Energy Plan recommendation is attached as well as supplemental information.
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We recommend that F&S initiate the development of an energy planning document in FY21.
SSC Semesterly Report: Solar Farm 2.0
Associated Project(s):F&S submitted the Spring 2021 Semesterly Report to the SSC for the Solar Farm 2.0 Landscape Buffer project!
Read the report in the attached files below.