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  1. Post-Challenge Sunday Email - Plastic Reduction Challenge

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plastic Free Challenge
    Campus Sustainability Month

    Good afternoon,

    Congratulations on completing the Plastic Reduction Challenge!! You should be incredibly proud of yourself for your dedication this past month. We hope this challenge revealed some of your personal waste habits and prompted you to think about actions you can incorporate into your lives (and encourage others, too!) to decrease your personal environmental footprint. Please don’t forget to share what you learned this past month with friends, family, and peers. Keep up the momentum!

    If you have not already, be sure to submit your Week 4 Google Form by Monday, 10/31. As mentioned last week, we will reach out to you one last time on Thursday with some exciting announcements: the raffle winners and statistics on how we did as a group reducing our plastic waste over the past month.

    We hope you continue to keep in touch with us and reach out with any questions or comments; we always love talking about sustainability and would be thrilled to discuss with you further! 

    Thank you, happy almost Halloween, and talk to you on Thursday.

    Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainability Programs Manager

    Emily Dickett and Jenna Schaefer, iSEE Sustainability Interns 

  2. New iSEE Green Event Certifications

    Associated Project(s): 
    Certified Green Event Program
    Certified Greener Campus Programs

    Congratulations to the Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement for their recent Green Event Certifications! 

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement State of the University, Certified October 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement Chancellor's Medallion Presentation and Reception, Certified October 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement Strategic Planning Summit, Certified October 2022

    Chancellor's Office for Special Events and Commencement Illinois v. Quincy (Exh.) Men’s Basketball, Certified October 2022

    Keep up the great work!

  3. TED Talk: Eco-Edition Series - Campus Sustainability Month 10/26/22

    Associated Project(s): 
    TED Talk: Eco Edition Series
    Campus Sustainability Month

    The October - Campus Sustainability Month TED Talk: Eco-Edition Series event was held on 10/26/22. Lucy Nifong led a thought-provoking and inspiring discussion around the topic of “climate action needs new frontline leadership.” For those that could not make it, I attached her PowerPoint presentation and hope you take the time to watch the TED Talk by Ozawa Bineshi Albert. After our conversations this evening, I feel motivated to keep writing our legislators and lead by example. We all have the power to make a difference! Be sure to check out Lucy’s Op-Ed: Students Must Get out the Vote So We Can Break the “Midterm Curse”!

    Our next TED Talk: Eco-Edition series event will be held on Nov. 15 at 7 PM in celebration of America Recycles Day. Sign up here and I look forward to seeing you there!

     

    Attached Files: 

  4. iSEE, F&S met with GSA representatives

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green Sports Alliance

    On October 28, Meredith Moore, Colleen Ruhter, Betsy Richardson, and Daphne Hulse met with Bradley Vogel and Matt Adler from GSA. The following was discussed:

    • Introductions
      • Betsy Richardson: works in environmental compliance with Colleen Ruhter. Their work revolves around regulations with EPA and permits. They signed up with GSA in 2019. Garrett Wong presented at the Green Infrastructure Conference, which is how UIUC became connected with GSA. They are trying to roll this out of compliance and into the world of Athletics, where it should be.
      • Colleen Ruhter: Civil engineer, background in stormwater, currently works on sanitary and drinking water projects as of late.
      • Bradley Vogel: Senior Memberships and Events representative. Bradley works with major athletic events to do waste diversion at games.
      • Matt: Works in the corporate and non-profit side of their services (ex: technological resources used to achieve goals).
      • Daphne: newest to the university, Zero Waste Coordinator.
      • Meredith: Sustainability Programs Manager at iSEE. Keen to see Athletics take initiative and want to help them achieve goals.
    • What is athletics currently doing?
      • Are they tracking waste, energy, and water use?
        • UIUC thinks we should be able to track their energy, because they are a campus operation.
        • F&S recently (July 2022) acquired responsibility to take care of the waste at all of their facilities (previously, Athletics contracted with other waste haulers for some facilities).
    • Approach Athletics with a money mindset.
      • How much could they theoretically save in costs by reducing their resource use?
    • Play to Zero platform.
    • Next steps
      • GSA will send UIUC a guide, and we can see about how to track their utilities in the meantime.
      • We should set up another meeting with GSA, especially if we can get Athletic leaders on the call. Keep the conversation going.

  5. Week 4 Check In - Plastic Reduction Challenge

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plastic Free Challenge
    Campus Sustainability Month

    Good morning!

    We are feeling bittersweet that this is our last week of the Plastic Reduction Challenge. We are so grateful and impressed by each and every one of you for your participation and focus throughout this month’s challenge. There are 184 of you registered for the challenge; together, we make up an amazing community of individuals on our way to living a life with less plastic!

    Our final tip of the challenge is a guide on how to live sustainably beyond the challenge. In a few days, you will no longer have to tally your plastic items or receive emails every week to hold you accountable, reminding you to keep up the hard work. The attached guide contains tips for moving forward. We encourage you to reflect on your own. Did you discover something interesting or helpful? Did you try something new? As always, we’d love to hear and we also hope you share this knowledge with friends, family, and the Waste Reduction @ Illinois Facebook group if you choose.

    As this month-long challenge is coming to an end, we are sure you are all wondering what comes next. We will check in again on Sunday reminding everyone to submit their Week 4 Google Form. After the forms are submitted, we will raffle off three sustainability packs using a random name generator. Your name will be entered one time for each week you participated in the challenge and submitted a form, so be sure to get in your last form this weekend! Next Thursday, 11/3, we will reveal the winners and also include statistics on how we did as a group throughout the challenge.

    We will talk to you again on Sunday - finish strong and have a great rest of the week!

    Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainability Programs Manager

    Emily Dickett and Jenna Schaefer, iSEE Sustainability Interns

    Attached Files: 

  6. Trash Cleanup 10/19/22 - Data

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Sustainability Month
    Facilitate campus-wide sustainability events

    The trash pickup on 10/19/22 was a great success, with beautiful weather and a lot of fun, too! We had more than 70 people volunteer, a record turn out. We picked up enough trash to fill an entire dumpster. Most groups helped track and characterize the waste, too. The categories and data are attached.

    Attached Files: 

  7. Trash Cleanup 10/19/22 - Email to participants

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Sustainability Month
    Facilitate campus-wide sustainability events

    Hello!

    Thank you for attending the Campus Trash Pickup on 10/19! You were among more than 70 volunteers who helped make campus cleaner that day, a record turnout! Additionally, the data you collected about the kind of waste you found helps us characterize University of Illinois’ waste stream, so we can know what outreach we need to carry out in order to decrease waste and litter on campus.

    In just an hour and a half, we collected enough waste to fill an entire dumpster (we had to put overflow trash in blue receptacles, too)! Data highlights include more than 300 plastic straws, cups, and utensils; 225 beverage cans, 35 plastic bags, and countless cigarette butts. This is amazing!

    At the event, many of you had ideas about future trash pickups, such as adding an educational component before or after the event, and more. If you have any ideas and would like help or to collaborate, do not hesitate to reach out to this email! We can’t do this without your help!

    We took a lot of awesome photos from this event, as well. Check out this Box Folder for pictures.

    Looking for more ways to be involved in sustainability?

    Thanks again for joining us during Campus Sustainability Month’s trash clean up. Please let us know if you have any questions or ideas for future events.

    Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainability Programs Manager

    Emily Dickett, iSEE Sustainability Intern

  8. Week 4 - Check in meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    Reduce Bicycle Theft on Campus
    Independent Student Projects

    This week Aparna got in touch with the staff of transit services from Arizona State University to understand their approach to achieving the Gold BFU certification. 

    Sarthak and Aparna also had a quick overview of the materials shared and brainstormed ideas/recommendations to raise awareness in the campus community as well as keep bike thefts in mind. 

    The next steps would be to familiarize with the topic better, collect all the research materials and make notes/highlight the existing implementation, and make comments on these.

  9. 10-26-22 External Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola

    On October 26, UIUC sustainability representatives met with Coca-Cola and discussed the following:

    Attendance: Anthony Mancuso, Jake Slager, Daphne Hulse, Sarah Carten, Pete Varney, Bryan Johnson, Marty Kaufmann, Jen Fraterrigo, Meredith Moore

    Agenda:

    1. How to hear from basketball game attendees (survey, open-ended feedback)?

    2. How to keep this momentum going for future collaborations between Coca-Cola, iSEE, F&S, DIA?

      1. Quantifying results. Compare typical basketball game waste production with this event.

      2. Recycling infrastructure/logistics. Look into the possibility a dedicated recycling container at State Farm Center. Supplying blue bags. Incorporating recycling containers to the second floor where logistically feasible.

        1. Temporary “Don’t Waste It” bins will be placed here for the zero waste game.

      3. Cultivating a dedicated, core group of students/volunteers.

      4. Touring Memorial Stadium in the future — understanding how the operation works there.

    3. How do we make it clear what is and is not recyclable?

      1. Other than student volunteers engaging with attendees, is there a more passive option worth pursuing?

      2. Zero waste game logistics: what if an attendee has a half-full drink they are ready to recycle?

        1. Shawn, Pete might have an idea.

    4. What game day messaging do we want to give for advertisements (what are we wanting to achieve)?

      1. “America Recycles Day” (November 15) — drawing attention to the Keep America Beautiful program.

      2. “Zero Waste” — consistency with the iCAP chapter.

      3. “Use the Bin” — building off of this ongoing initiative?

      4. “Don’t Waste Your Shot to Recycle” — building off of the Don’t Waste messaging.

      5. A way to incorporate a fun basketball term in the event tagline?

        1. Slam dunk, shot.

    5. Graphic design that showcases all of the involved parties of the event? This is how I (Daphne) think we can best reach out to RSOs, relevant groups, to help us promote the event in advance on social media.

      1. Coca-Cola, DIA, F&S, SSLC, Illini Pride, Orange Krush.

      2. Who will be in charge of creating this graphic?

    6. Volunteers

      1. Meredith: any update on SSLC meeting with Illini Pride and Orange Krush?

      2. Who is in charge of creating a form for interested student volunteers?

      3. Coca-Cola Heartland: We’d like to open up the opportunity for student volunteers first, but if we don’t reach our 40-50 sign up goal, we would like to reach out to the Heartland group

    7. Do we have a Don’t Waste hashtag?

    Discussion:

    • DIA typically does standardized responses for basketball, so we can’t commit to anything right now.

    • Jen: scan a QR code, and quickly respond to a couple questions. Half-time or short-break in the action.

      • Feedback may be more based on our diversion rate, rather than the attendees.

    • What questions would we be asking?

      • Leichert scale 1-5, or yes-no.

      • Do you support having more emphasis on recycling?

      • How do you feel about zero waste emphasis?

      • Is it helpful or harmful? Neutral?

      • Did you notice that this was a zero waste event?

      • How well did we bring this to people’s attention?

    • Lightshow or pre-game trivia specific U of I recycling, Jake has generic Coca-Cola trivia.

        • Marty thinks this could be possible.

      • Marty will bring back to his group for discussion.

    • Messaging:

      • Definitely include “America Recycles Day” → action item for the next day, after the game

      • One or two screens we can use, says Marty (thanks to these partners, groups, Keep America Beautiful)

      • As we observe America Recycles Day tomorrow, we are proud to make tonight a Zero Waste game!

    • Meredith: SSLC had the meeting, 5:30 show up at SFC for training, meet and greet until 6, stand by stations.

    • Student volunteer sign up:

      • iSEE newsletter - captive audience first.

      • Neither Orange Krush or Illini Pride leaders showed up at the Monday SSLC meeting, so we need to reach out to them to make sure they have buy-in.

      • Tuesday Newsletter, as well as Instagram (student-based)

      • Reconvene next week (Tony) to see if we reach out volunteer goal (40-50 individuals)

    • Don’t Waste Hashtag?

    • Coca-Cola will do the logo (Zero Waste Game) for consistent branding with YAH Agency

    • Ongoing #DontWaste hashtag → consistent messaging, auto-tag when taking selfies

      • YAH Agency.

    • Heartland Coca-Cola team has let us know that we can incorporate local Coke team.

    • Lucy, Coca-Cola ambassador can help with messaging.

    • Dozen or so iSEE student employees who are dedicated to sustainability events, interested folks in educational programming, possible that iSEE could have interns take lead on creating a group to keep things going for future events

    • Long-term goal, iSEE and F&S don’t have to be involved with every game, more embedded with athletics. Laying the foundation for this year

    • Will be helpful if we have the bins out there, strong infrastructure to support these events

    • Illini Lights Out is a model — commitment to being involved; same way as having a group committed to helping with events. Listserv to blast to events for those who are interested in events.

      • Meredith is working with Zoe: starting with iCAP ambassador program. Will be a giant listserv of trained volunteers.

      • Service organizations, frats and sororities.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  11. 10-24-22 Internal Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola

    On October 24, UIUC sustainability representatives met and discussed the following:

    Attendance: Daphne Hulse, Meredith Moore, Jen Fraterrigo, Shreya Mahajan, Marty Kaufmann, Aaron Finder

    Agenda:

    1. F&S has ~27 old “Don’t Waste It” recycling bins stored in the Waste Transfer Station. We estimated ~14 bins will be used on game day. We will use the old bins and allow Jake time to find a more durable option for the updated “Don’t Waste” branding.

    2. Jake to provide t-shirt renderings for green volunteer shirts and Coca-Cola branded giveaway shirts. Shirt cost will come from the mutual sustainability fund.

    3. Toured the State Farm Center: we are working with the facility to determine the logistics of separating the blue recycling bags from the compacted landfill bags for game day. We provided them dimensions for our recycling container; waiting to hear if it is acceptable. If not, we will place blue bags in the compactor and have to sort them out at the Waste Transfer Station.

    4. Concessions: Drinks (plastic bottles and aluminum cans) will be recyclable. Some of the items (the souvenir cup (plastic 5), paper Coca-Cola cups (lined with plastic film), and food containers (greasy boxes, foil) will not be recyclable).

      1. Thinking about how to advertise what is and is not recyclable to attendees…

    5. High resolution logos have been added to Box.

    6. Surprise & Delight Activation Reward Giveaway items are being sent to F&S. 50 reusable tote bags (filled with a t-shirt, hat, reusable straws (4 per pack), and thank-you messaging card on recycled paper).

    7. Student engagement: based on the tour, we think the best way to engage attendees and ensure the correct items are being recycled is to have pairs of volunteers in green shirts come out during time-outs to walk through the seating areas with blue bags. There are 12 “internal entrances” to the stadium, ~24 students needed.

    8. We expect not every student volunteer who signs up will show up, so we suggest recruiting around 40-50 volunteers total (pairs walking around the seats, floaters, bin guards, a few volunteers at entrances greeting attendees)

      1. Jake has offered to relay a message to the Coca-Cola Heartland team (the team regional to our area) to see if we can recruit any of them for volunteers — do we want to do that? Or stick with only UIUC student volunteers?

    9. Identified opportunities for outreach (publicity contacts).

      1. When to reach out to student RSOs to promote? Do we have a graphic design we will use (Coca-Cola’s Don’t Waste?)

    Discussion:

    • Zero Waste game updates:
      • Orange Krush and Illini Pride meeting with SSLC.
      • Doors open at 6, starts at 7.
      • Meet on sight at 5:30? Marty suggests.
    • Zoom meeting prior to game for the volunteers
    • What if the bottles and cans are half full? Where do we throw it out?
    • Open up the volunteering opportunity to students first, and then open it up to Heartland folks if we can’t get 40-50 student volunteers.
    • Graphic design? Jen will reach out to iSEE publicity, F&S comms director, DIA comms.
      • What we want, and what we are asking? Marty thinks we have graphics, but what we need is our message. It would be good to showcase the partnerships here (different logos of the different depts involved).
      • Marty will find the point person, dept meeting this afternoon.
    • How are we creating a foundation for future events? We have the momentum here, so use it as a platform for partnership going forward. Increasing this behavior at future events. Meredith, how might we have a dedicated group assisting for the future?
      • Marty: know that there are things that we can improve upon (blue bags, needing more bins on the second floor, logisitics with F&S). Can’t commit to how frequent. Don’t see an issue, and ideally it would work to change behavior. Some of which will be fast, some will be short.
      • A way to evaluate attendees experiences? Marty is not sure, he will ask at the department meeting. Football gets standard post-game question/feedback. The basketball games is probably by season, rather than game (because there are so many games).
      • Quantify what difference is made — F&S will do this. Ask Shawn about this.

     

  12. Week 4 - Plastic Reduction Challenge

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plastic Free Challenge
    Campus Sustainability Month

     

    Welcome to the final week of the Plastic Reduction Challenge! We cannot believe how quickly October is flying by and we are so grateful for your dedication to the process of tracking and reducing your plastic waste. You have one week left to push yourself outside of your comfort zone and try something new to decrease your waste! If you find that you have managed to either recycle or reuse items in your daily life, why not try something new by helping someone else or sharing a few tips with us! If you have not already, please submit your Week 3 Google Form by Monday.

    This Thursday, we will send the final tip of the challenge: how to go forward and live sustainably, even when the Plastic Reduction Challenge ends. You did not do all of this hard work to revert back to using disposable items. Now, it is time to use what you have learned and help others in their own path to waste minimalism. We encourage you to start thinking about what tips you will incorporate into your daily lives, what you still plan to work on and work toward, and everything you have learned this past month. Until then, enjoy your final week. As a group, let’s try to generate the most amount of points yet!

    Here is the Week 4 Google Form. Please submit the form by Halloween (Monday, October 31). We look forward to checking in on Thursday with information about the end of the challenge, including the prize raffle.

    Remember to reach out with questions, comments, or stories about your challenge experience. Do you have any feedback for us? Is there anything you particularly enjoyed or would like to see changed? We would love to hear.

    Have a great week and finish strong!

    Attached Files: 

  15. Take the Drinking Water Survey!

    Associated Project(s): 
    Drinking Water Survey
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    Decreasing Bottled Water Use

    Take the survey here!

    This survey is the result of a recommendation by the Zero Waste iCAP Team and is intended to gain a better understanding of drinking water behavior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

    The survey is broken into eight sections. Section one asks demographic questions, sections two through seven ask you to respond to statements on a 1-5 scale, and the last section asks open ended questions. Please answer as truthfully as possible. The survey should take no more than 5 minutes. 

    Participants will be entered into a drawing for a $50 Illini Bookstore gift card!

    To get involved or share your ideas, please contact sustainability@illinois.edu.  

  17. iCAP Portal Admin Meeting - October 21, 2022

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability iCAP Portal

    TODOs:

  18. Week 3 Check In - Plastic Reduction Challenge

    Associated Project(s): 
    Plastic Free Challenge
    Campus Sustainability Month

    Good morning!

    It’s Thursday so you know what that means… time for our weekly check-in! You are almost done with Week 3 of the Plastic Reduction Challenge. There is just over one week left until the end of the challenge. We are sad to realize this, too. We love communicating with you and building our community of sustainability enthusiasts. How have you improved since Week 1? What more do you have to learn?

    During Week 2, we raised our group average to 12.75 points! This number is outstanding! Not only did our group improve from Week 1, but this number reflects largely positive actions by the entire group. This number is equivalent to refusing plastic (+8 points) and picking up litter (+5 points), while also throwing away no plastic. Wow!

    This week, let’s focus on avoiding plastic in the home: the kitchen, the laundry, and the bathroom, specifically. Have you noticed how heavily food products are packaged? Do you know that dryer sheets and cleaning products contribute to plastic waste? The attached weekly tip includes ways to avoid plastic while making and storing food, cleaning, and doing laundry. This week’s tip is a particularly good one to share with friends, roommates, and family members, as well!

    Please remember to submit your  Week 3 Google Form by Monday, October 24. Feel free to reach out with any questions, comments, or concerns at any time. 

    Late to the challenge? No worries! Check out the Box Folder for any materials you may have missed.

    Enjoy the rest of your week and we will talk to you again on Sunday.

     

    Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainability Programs Manager

    Emily Dickett and Jenna Schaefer, iSEE Sustainability Interns 

     

    Attached Files: 

  19. Weekly Update: Strong Towns, Bike Summit, potentially postponing Working Bikes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, Last week was a busy one. We had Strong Towns talk on Tuesday and the Illinois Bike Summit on Wednesday. Got in some good networking, heard some interesting talks/discussions, and got buzzed by two MTD buses on my bike commute there and then one car on my ride back to the Bike Center. Oh, the irony.

    The cooler weather has curtailed our visitors, but we’ve had a few volunteers, too—always nice.

    Grabbed some bikes from the warehouse last week and will continue to do so as I can this week. I have jury duty potentially all this week and next week, which majorly mucks up my plans for setting up with Working Bikes since I can’t plan past day-to-day. Likely will have to bump that to early November unless circumstances change.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 42
    Sales: $266
    Memberships: 3 for $90
    Tires/tubes: 3 for $20

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  20. Campus Sustainability Celebration - 10/17/22

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Sustainability Month
    Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC)
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Energy iCAP Team
    Education iCAP Team
    Resilience iCAP Team
    Land and Water iCAP Team
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Zero Waste iCAP Team
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Certified Greener Campus Programs
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan

    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  
    Attached Files: 

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