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.

University Dining purchased 10,000 reusable containers for use this upcoming fall!

On July 15, 2021, Lisa Merrifield, Meredith Moore, Morgan White, and Avery Maloto met to discuss the Urban Biodiversity Master Plan.

See the attached files to read the meeting notes!

In January 2019, the Chez Family Foundation Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education achieved Gold LEED Certification status.

Wounded Veterans in Higher Education: LEED Gold

The Red Oak Rain Garden (RORG) was established in 2006. The current renovation is to improve both aesthetics and functionality. The RORG Team, led by Eliana Brown, Water Quality Specialist with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Illinois Extension, is managing the design and build of the project, which just completed phases I and II as of October 2019. Read our blog for the latest construction updates.

Back in 2006, Prof. Tony Endress' Restoration Ecology classes designed and installed the rain garden with assistance from Facilities & Services and the City of Urbana and in cooperation with Housing Services.  For additional visual interest, art student Jennifer Astwood designed the “Prairie Fire” sculpures under the guidance of Prof. Alex Fekete.

The Red Oak Rain Garden is a BLUE Illinois Faculty/StudentProject funded by Facilities & Services in conjunction with the Environmental Council, with additional funding support from University Housing.

The Red Oak Rain Garden is a public rain garden that soaks up rainwater, enhances the campus and community aesthetic and educational experience, and promotes well-being for everyone who visits.

As the first rain garden on campus, this garden is beautiful and smart. It addresses flooding in an innovative way – by planting an attractive landscape feature that captures and filters stormwater.

Located between Allen Hall and McKinley Health Center, RORG provides flood protection, improves water quality, and serves as a model for ecologically healthy landscapes. Prior to the garden, rainstorms limited sidewalk use and impaired the red oak. The updated design enhances the garden’s ability to absorb rainwater in a beautiful, educational way. The garden plants, which are native to Illinois, have extensive root systems that are excellent at soaking up water and improving its quality. 

From: Vandenbergh, Lydia Bodman <lbv10@psu.edu>
Sent: Wednesday, July 14, 2021 9:16 AM
To: Vandenbergh, Lydia Bodman
Cc: Wendy Olmstead
Subject: July 21st AASHE Webinar on Green Office Programs

Upcoming Webinar:

Webinar: Creating or Improving Green Office and Lab Certification Programs: Best Practices

July 21 @ 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm EDT

Free

If your institution is considering creating a Green Office Certification Program (GOCP) or improving an existing one, you have company. In 2019, several universities and colleges were in the same situation, and created a focus group to explore best practices, under the auspices of the Big Ten and Friends Sustainability Network. The group’s size blossomed over the following year to representing about twenty-five institutions, offering a breadth of experience to tap.

The group found that program models vary by assessment process; staffing; metrics; alignment with the global Sustainable Development Goals; adaptability for remote workers; target audience; recognition approach; and participation incentives. After an initial benchmarking process, they honed in on four programmatical areas to explore improvements: metrics; addressing social actions; alignment with professional development goals; and remote work adaptability. In this AASHE session, participants will learn about various program models and the best practices from three leaders involved in the analysis effort: Lydia Vandenbergh from Penn State University; Tony Gillund of Ohio State University; and Wendy Olmstead from California State University, Stanislaus.

This presentation will provide valuable tips and models to consider for those looking to launch or evolve their own programs that make sustainability the norm in work and lab spaces. Although this session is focused on examples from the higher ed community, the information could be applied to non-profits and other organizations.

Register here.

Lydia Vandenbergh
Associate Director of Employee Engagement and Education
Sustainability Institute

Penn State University
814-863-4893 (o)
814-880-3058 (c)

"When historians pick up their pens to write the story of the 21st century, let them say that it was your generation who laid down the heavy burdens of hate at last and that peace finally triumphed over violence, aggression and war. So I say to you, walk with the wind, brothers and sisters, and let the spirit of peace and the power of everlasting love be your guide." John Lewis, July 2020

Check out our programs:
sustainability.psu.edu/greenteams
sustainability.psu.edu/greenpaws

From: McKelvey, Michael L
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2021 10:10 AM
To: White, Morgan
Subject: ECE building energy dashboards

Hi Morgan,

You may already be aware of this, but I wanted to let you know that, after corresponding with Aaron Mason and Ian Bonadeo at Hawkeye Energy Solutions since you put us in contact back in April, the ECE building’s energy dashboards are now available without requiring a login and via domain name rather than IP address! Here are the dashboards:

ECE Building – Energy Dashboard

ECE Building – Net Zero Energy Dashboard

You can view the listing of dashboards currently available at the U of I Building Energy Dashboard Home Page.

They’re now ready to be linked from the appropriate iCAP Portal entries!

     --Michael--

============== Michael McKelvey ===============

Office for Mathematics, Science, & Technology Education

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

https://mste.illinois.edu

(217) 244-7148

============ mmckelve at illinois.edu ============

In connection with the Resilient Landscape Strategy and the Illinois Climate Action Plan, this project is aimed at enhancing one of the few water features on campus—the Dorner Drive Retention Pond.  This rainwater collection site is also a destination for several students who like to picnic on the side of the pond, and it is immediately adjacent to the Red Oak Rain Garden (RORG). This project is to renew the Dorner Drive pond and incorporate native plants throughout the surrounding area, to enhance the sustainability and usability of the site. 

Morgan White reviewed the following Entomology courses with Professors May Berenbaum and Adam Dolezal:

• IB 105: Environmental Biology
• IB 335: Systematics of Plants
• IB 329: Animal Behavior
• IB 444: Insect ecology
• IB 451: Conservation Biology
• IB 468*: Insect Classification and Evolution – being held this fall
• IB 526: Seminar in Entomology

*During the review, Professor Berenbaum and Professor Dolezal added IB 468 to the pre-existing list of the other courses.

This is a Student Sustainability Committee supported project.

This project is a significant expansion of the current local food partnership existing between the Student Sustainable Farm (SSF), Multifunctional Woody Perennial Polyculture (MWP), FSHN Pilot Processing Plant (PPP), and UIUC Dining.  Presently the Sustainable Agriculture Food System grows, processes, and serves on campus a variety of tomato sauces (pizza sauce is served across campus) and hot sauce.  Soon, the Sustainable Agriculture Food System will add a whole wheat flour milling line.  It have a very successful and growing program to provide quality, sustainable, and local food products and education to the UIUC students.

This particular project will focus on the addition of a fresh juice processing line that will be able to handle a wide array of fruits and vegetables, packaged into an array of containers from single serving to bulk.  As with the other projects, this partnership has no funding for large capital equipment expenditures, and relies on grants to increase our capacity.  Dining Services is a strong partner in our project and has agreed to provide a grant to help with the purchase of items needed to produce fresh juice products including a harvester for fruit from the MWP site.

The goal of the Sustainable Agricultural Food System is to further collaboration between the production activities of the Sustainable Student Farm; the teaching, research, and outreach activities at the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN); and Dining Services' goal of increasing procurement of locally grown foods. The specific action the project would take in order to support this goal would be purchasing tomato processing equipment.

By weight, tomatoes are the farm's main crop. The Student Sustainable Farm sells most of its tomatoes to Dining Services raw, where they are either used fresh or processed and made into sauce. There are several issues with this system, however. Firstly, the Dining Services prefers to buy ready-to-eat sauces, as opposed to having to make the sauces in-house. Furthermore, only 60 to 70 percent of the possible tomato crop is harvested due to the seasonality of locally grown tomatoes not coinciding with the needs of Dining Services.

Tomato processing could allow FSHN students to process tomatoes from the Student Sustainable Farm and produce shelf-stable products to be used by Dining Services. This would alleviate both of the current issues with the process, along with incorporating FSHN students into the sustainable agricultural efforts of the University. FSHN students and faculty would be able to use the equipment to research sustainable processing practices and establish processing protocols for small-scale production lines that could support local farmers.

Student involvement would be a significant part of this project. The Student Sustainable Farm already introduces 200-300 student volunteers to sustainable agriculture each year. The project would add to this number by incorporating FSHN students, who would be involved as part of their coursework at the University.