The Zero Waste team met on Monday, February 21 to draft a recommendation on reducing single-use plastics on campus--particularly in vending machines. This recommendation, along with the other teams drafted by the team last semester, will be presented at an upcoming Sustainability Sub-council.
The Zero Waste team met on Monday, February 21 to draft a recommendation on reducing single-use plastics on campus--particularly in vending machines. This recommendation, along with the other teams drafted by the team last semester, will be presented at an upcoming Sustainability Sub-council.
After discussions internally at F&S (in the Sustainability and Transportation Demand Management departments) and then discussions with iSEE, it was agreed that the F&S TDM department will conduct the Mode Choice Survey in 2022 and every 3 years going forward.
Can Bayram has been awarded an ARPA-E OPEN grant to support the development of green LED lights that will generate the same level of brightness as today’s blue LED lamps, but with significantly less energy consumption and carbon emissions.
UIUC ranks 25th on the EPA's top-30 list of the largest on-site green power users in the Green Power Partnership, joining prominent companies Apple, Procter & Gamble, Target, Intel, and more.
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign has once again been recognized by the Arbor Day Foundation as a Tree Campus USA member. Specifically, the Tree Campus High Education program reviewed the Tree Care Plan, in addition to other requirements, to grant our campus the title of an offical Tree Campus. Below is a brief summary of what is needed to obtain this recoginition, each year.
"To obtain this distinction, your campus has met the five core standards for sustainable campus forestry required by Tree Campus Higher Education, including establishment of a tree advisory committee, evidence of a campus tree care plan, dedicated annual expenditures for your campus tree program, an Arbor Day observance, and the sponsorship of student service learning projects. Your entire campus community should be proud of this sustained commitment to environmental stewardship."
The Engagement iCAP Team met on Friday, February 18 to discuss current ongoing recommendations, including: Sustainability TikTok challenge, College of Engineering Sustainability Leaders Learning Session, and a Sustainability Partnership with the ADV498 Advertising Capstone Course. Meeting minutes are attached.
At the February 11 Illini Lights Out event, 4,297 light bulbs were shut off, saving $623.38 in energy costs. This also prevented 5.3 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere, which is the same amount of CO2 as what would be emitted by fully charging 638,987 cell phones. That's a big impact!
Illini Lights Out is a certified Green Event! Click this link to learn how to green-certify your own event.
The next Illini Lights Out event of the semester is Friday, February 25th, at 5:30 pm, and you can sign up for that event using this link if you haven't done so already.
The newsletter attached below is from F&S Customer Relations & Communications, which provides more detail on UIUC's Green Power User achievement.
SSC received semester report for Fall 2021 for Bike Registration Signs project on January 6, 2022. Please see attached.
The following text is taken from the February iSEE Newsletter, which is attached below.
LEED Green Associate Training Offered Online. Students can prepare for the LEED Green Associate exam through this online course offered by LeadingGreen and taught by a U.S. Green Building Council faculty member. Register for a live webinar or complete the on-demand recordings at your own pace. Questions? Watch this introductory video or email Lorne Mlotek at info@leadinggreen.com.
Live webinars Feb. 24, March 12, April 2, April 23, May 15 | Register here
The following passage is taken from an iSEE February Newsletter (the newsletter is attached below).
Recycling 101: Start With Reduce, Reuse
Did you know less than 10 percent of plastic is recycled each year? Or that cardboard contaminated with grease or food can't be recycled? In "Recycling 101," iSEE intern Maria Maring outlines what can and can't be recycled on campus, recycling rules and resources in Champaign-Urbana, and tips from sustainability experts about what you can do to recycle effectively and keep waste out of the landfill. Most important: Remember that recycling is just one of the "three Rs," and that "reuse" and "reduce" are just as important in shrinking your environmental footprint!
The following passage is taken from an iSEE February Newsletter (the newsletter is attached below).
Q Magazine: The Dark Side of Thrifting
When her clothing donation was denied at a secondhand store, Q Magazine author Nikki Palella was inspired to investigate behind the scenes of the thrifting industry. In "The Dark Side of Thrifting," she outlines the consequences of Western society's reliance on fast fashion, over-consumption, and clothing donations. Our unwanted clothes thread their way around the world, to the detriment of the environment, local industries, and people's livelihoods. Secondhand clothing and the thrifting industry, while well-intentioned and helpful to a small portion of society, can cause real pain.
The following text is from the February iSEE Newsletter, which is attached below.
Geothermal Urbana-Champaign 2.0 Starts Feb. 23. Geothermal Urbana-Champaign is a public education and group buy program that makes getting geothermal heating and cooling easier and more affordable for Champaign, Piatt, and Vermilion County home and business owners. Register for a spring Zoom session to learn more! Spring dates include Feb. 23, March 29, April 12 (co-hosted by iSEE and F&S), May 2, and May 23 (times vary). Details>>>
All, Picked up 4 – 5 bikes from Urbana last week which were promptly claimed as B-a-Bs or tagged for shop builds. This week we have our Uni High Agora Days class coming in Tues – Fri. This will reduce our open hours on Wed/Fri to 4 – 6p.
I’ll be picking up 5 bikes from Champaign Cycle on Tuesday afternoon, too. That should get us towards a good number of bikes on hand.
The numbers:
visitors: 10
Sales: $324
Bike (refurb): 1 for $180
Memberships: 3 for $90
Thanks!
Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator
Congratulations to the newest recipients of our Green Event Certification Program!
DRES Wheelchair Basketball Tournament-Certified January 2022
Illinois Extension Everyday Environment Webinar Series-Certified February 2022
Thank you for you sustainability initiatives, keep up the great work!
Dhuvaraj Gambhire and Ali Khan met with Morgan White on 2-11-2022 to discuss how they can acquire a Notice to Proceed and access to the Atmospheric Science Building for testing.
They will get a quote from Sterling, which will allow them to get a Purchase Order (PO). After they get the PO, they can get a Notice to Proceed and access to the building.
On Feb 3rd and Feb 10th, Sarthak and Sutapa met to transport data from ArcGIS Survey 123 app to an excel spreadsheet. (attached)
General Walkability study spreadsheet:
1. Data was cleaned and transposed. Each question is located on a separate row. Each column accounts for 1 survey taken by a volunteer of the study.
2. A separate sheet was designated for assigning each question with scores on a scale of 1-5.
3. Using the function index and match, formulas were introduced for each survey answer in the database.
A group meeting is scheduled in the end of February to finalize the scoring system of the map- blocks. The next step is to calculate averages for each map block and assign an average score out of 5 for each parameter.
Incomplete survey: The Map blocks 9, 10, 14, 22, 23 and 27 have no records yet. When the weather conditions improve in March 2022, another round of data collection is scheduled to be undertaken by volunteers. Details regarding their training sessions will be shared soon.
The following message was sent on behalf of Kristy Jones, the Director of Higher Education Programs and RecycleMania Manager of the National Wildlife Federation:
Hello Campus Race to Zero Waste 2022 Participants,
Thank you for participating in the 2022 Campus Race to Zero Waste competition!
The CR2ZW team is excited that so many campuses are joining us for this year’s competition. This year’s competition will be flexible; we are encouraging campuses to track your waste and report as much as you can. If you are unable to track waste on campus, please consider hosting an online education and engagement campaign during the competition timeframe. Please reach out to me anytime with questions. (respond to this email, or call 703-438-6262). Please see attached for the CR2ZW 2022 participant badge (two file formats). Please post this on your websites, and share via social media to highlight and celebrate your participation in the 2022 Campus Race to Zero Waste!
FEATURED INFO IN THIS EMAIL: (more details bellow)
UPCOMING DEADLINES, AND OTHER KEY INFORMATION AND RESOURCES:
More 2022 CR2ZW Competition Resources:
Please contact me with any questions.
Thanks, take care,
Kristy
