ECEB solar panels have been generating power since April 2020. Building energy use is offset by the ECEB solar panel production and, since February when a contract between F&S and ECE has been in place, the excess energy use not offset by the ECEB solar panels is being replaced through solar renewable energy credits (SRECS) from Solar Farm2. These credits are being paid for by the ECE Power and Energy group.

On July 26, 2021, the Zero Waste iCAP Team met to discuss Reusable Dining Options. In this call, Thurman Etchison, Justin Holding, Meredith Moore, Alexa Smith, and Avery Maloto spoke about a reusable to-go container program that is scheduled to launch at the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester.

Key takeaways from the call include the purchase of 10,000 reusable containers that will soon be available at Ikenberry, ISR, and LAR dining halls.

See the attached file to read the meeting notes.

From: White, Morgan <mbwhite at illinois.edu>
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2021 4:46 PM
To: Lewis, Brent C <bcl at illinois.edu>; Liggett, Betsy Jo <bliggett at illinois.edu>
Cc: Moore, Meredith Kaye <mkm0078 at illinois.edu>
Subject: current count of green infrastructure

Hi Brent and Betsy,

In the Green Infrastructure Project list at \\Fandsu360\Sustainability\iCAP Projects\04 Land and Water Projects\Green Infrastructure Project List, I count 39 GSI installations constructed on campus (skipping the one Rain Barrel location).

Do you concur that it is the right number for our annual count in the iCAP Portal metrics?

Thanks,

Morgan 

======================================

MORGAN B. WHITE
Associate Director of F&S for Sustainability

Facilities & Services | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
1501 S Oak Street (MC-800) | Champaign, IL 61820
217.333.2668 | mbwhite at illinois.edu
fs.illinois.edu/services/sustainability

The response to this email concluded that the current count of green infrastructure is accurate as the list was recently updated. 

A student research team, under Dr. Yuanhui Zhang, will expand the Environment-Enhancing Energy (E2E) research program to campus application by augmenting wet food waste produced through the dining halls. They will first survey dining services food waste and make their findings available to campus affiliates. Next, they will take dining waste and convert it into biofuel and asphalt. This process will reduce UIUC’s food waste, advancing the Illinois Climate Action Plan efforts. Likewise, the project will bring awareness to food waste at a local level. In December 2017, this project received $10,000 from the Student Sustainability Committee to kickstart the project.

A student research team, under Dr. Yuanhui Zhang, will expand the Environment-Enhancing Energy (E2E) research program to campus application by augmenting wet food waste produced through the dining halls. They will first survey dining services food waste and make their findings available to campus affiliates. Next, they will take dining waste and convert it into biofuel and asphalt. This process will reduce UIUC’s food waste, advancing the Illinois Climate Action Plan efforts. Likewise, the project will bring awareness to food waste at a local level. In December 2017, this project received $10,000 from the Student Sustainability Committee to kickstart the project.

Moazam Hakim provided the following updates regarding the Air Quality Monitoring Station on July 26, 2021:

• The actual pod was received on Monday, July 26, 2021. This pod was procured from Stratford, UK.
• The next step is to get this pod installed on a lighting pole, or at another suitable location on campus.
• Over the course of the past month, the development of public interface and API for the data has been underway. After the installation of the pod, the collected data will be reported via Mobile Network, and the dashboard will be released. This dashboard will report live data, as well as provide past data and information available for download. 
• The parameters that are being monitored are PM, NO, NO2, O3, CO, CO2, Relative Humidity, and Barometric Pressure.

Avery Maloto reached out to Rabin Bhattarai requesting an update for the "Fly Ash Phosphorous Filtration" project in the iCAP portal. Rabin explained that the project ended in December of 2018, and there are no ongoing activities related to the project. 

Tony Mancuso, the Communications and Public Affairs Director, has requested updates on the progress of Professor Sinha and Professor Zhang's 2018 Campus as a Living Lab seed-funded projects for the iSEE website and the iSEE annual report.

Professor Zhang sent updates for this project per Avery Maloto's request to update the iCAP Portal. Pictures were included in the update but there was an issue determining the status of the funding. 

Please see the attached newsletter for July updates from the EPA's SmartWay program.

The following email from John Marlin describes how to remove goldenrod at the Florida & Orchard Prairie and some motivation for doing so.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

From: John Marlin
Date: Sun, Jul 25, 2021 at 1:51 PM
Subject: Perfect time to remove goldenrod at Florida Orchard
To: Illinois Master Naturalists

The big rain Saturday evening has left the soil in perfect condition for easily pulling tall goldenrod (see photo) at the Florida-Orchard prairie next to the UI president's house.  This is a great time for some independent action to get some hours.  Grasp the stem rather low (or several stems if you wish) and slowly pull straight up.  You may get lucky and also get 3 feet of rhizome.  Pulling the plants now just before they bloom weakens them greatly and prevents seed development.  You will often notice several stems in a circular pattern, get them all.  If you cannot carry plants away, toss them into the prairie individually.  If you cannot pull or bend over, just clip the stem 2 or 3 feet above ground level to weaken the plant and spur competitors.

During he past several years we have pulled many plants along the South and east edges and the first third of the center path, Concentrate on these areas and the first third of the central path.  (WE also worked on the North side -- including putting a drop of herbicide on cut stems).  This has paid off as the species diversity has improved in these areas.  We concentrate on pulling the tall goldenrod near more desirable species like Butterfly milkweed, Bee balm, Culver's root and others.  If you walk down the central path, notice how goldenrod dominates about a third of the way down.

There is parking in the UI lots at the Archives (Hort lab) off Orchard at the top of the Hill and at various times on Orchard street North of Florida.

This site along with others including Meadow Brook, Pollinatarium, Arboretum, Lincoln Ave. Residence, Red Oak rain garden, AND homeowner plantings allow bee and other pollinator populations a chance to expand and exchange genetic material.  Attached are a recent photo of the south side and an historical poster of FLOR in 2013.

MN's can get credit for this as part of the campus native plant projects. 

I sent this BCC to some people who helped in the past and may have some current interest.

John C. Marlin

I've attached a file below containing an article written by Julie Wurth detailing UIUC's Investment in Climate Solutions.

Recycling plastic bags is an important aspect of specialty recycling for campus.  

The Illini Union Bookstore has started plastic bag recycling in collaboration with their vendor.  This program is an exciting opportunity to reduce plastic film waste on campus.

Dart Container at 1505 E. Main St., Urbana, accepts expanded polystyrene (EPS), more commonly known by its brand name Styrofoam, for recycling. Departments are encouraged to take EPS there to recycle this bulky material. By doing so, we can reduce the volume of waste sent from campus to landfills and avoid the harmful environmental impacts of that practice. There is no charge to drop off EPS at Dart for recycling.

There is currently no central funding source to pay for transportation of EPS to Dart, so departments need to arrange transport independently.

The drop-off location is in a fenced-in area of the Dart parking lot and may be accessed 24 hours a day. Dart accepts foam packaging (except for packaging peanuts), foam cups, foam egg cartons, foam meat trays, foam ice chests, and other foam products that fall within these guidelines:

• Make sure foam has the #6 chasing arrows symbol on it.
• Deposit foam in a clear or translucent bag (large bags are provided at the drop-off site).
• Rinse or wipe foodservice containers free from food.
• Remove straws, lids, tape or any other non-foam material.
• Do not include foam-packaging peanuts.

From fall 2015 until summer 2017, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) ran the Styrecycle program in partnership with Community Resource Inc. (CRI). Ownership of CRI changed in July 2017, and the new owner was not able to continue the program.

Representatives of the Engagement SWATeam met on July 19 to discuss 2 working recommendations: one related to recycling bin signage (having consistent & effective signage in residential halls and offices) and one related to increasing the visibility of the iCAP on university websites. Meeting minutes are attached.