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Project Updates

  1. June Tour at Allerton Park & Retreat Center

    Associated Project(s): 
    Champaign County Sustainability Network (CCNet) [ARCHIVED]
    Allerton Climate Action Plan (apCAP)
    Solar Power on Campus
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    For June, CCNet has arranged and sponsored a tour at Allerton Park & Retreat Center. This tour will take place on Friday, June 25th at 3:00 PM CDT. As mentioned in their monthly newsletter: 

     

    Tour at Allerton & Food at 3 Ravens

    Date: Friday, June 25th at 3:00 PM CDT
    Location:
    Allerton Park & Retreat Center (515 Old Timber Road, Monticello, IL 61856) &
    3 Ravens (108 South Charter, Monticello, IL 61856)

    Join us on a tour of Allerton!

    We will be meeting near the outside patio of Greenhouse Cafe at Allerton Park & Retreat Center. During this tour, Derek Peterson, the Director of Allerton, will show us clean energy installations at the center and we will visit the compost toilet funded by the Student Sustainability Committee. The Clivus Multrum compost toilet system is installed at the park’s Schroth Trailhead, providing park volunteers, trail-hikers, and other visitors the ability to use the restroom in an environmentally sustainable and convenient manner without needing to travel all the way to the Visitor Center to do so.

    Afterward, all are more than welcome to continue your visit to Allerton or join us for a quick bite at 3 Ravens in Monticello, IL!

    Please note that coordinated transportation will not be provided for this event. If you would like to drive to the event, parking is available at multiple locations around the park.

    Learn More About Planning Your Visit (Parking & Accessibility)

  2. TED Talk: Eco-Edition Series on Water Conservation this Thursday!

    Associated Project(s): 
    TED Talk: Eco Edition Series [ARCHIVED]

    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,
    Meredith

  3. Recent Environmental Justice Projects

    Associated Project(s): 
    Environmental Justice Plan
    Independent Student Projects

    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)

  5. Seventh Annual BeeBlitz

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA

    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.

    Learn more about the BeeBlitz.

  6. Weekly Update: Shop cleaning; Bike donations; Juneteenth Freedom Ride; Moonlight rides

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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 $41

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Manager, Campus Bike Center

  8. suggestion for servicing solar arrays

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Power on Campus

    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.

  9. Iron Workers are rolling out the new bins

    Associated Project(s): 
    Outdoor Recycling Bin Update

    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. 

  10. Archived Info - Previous Project Background

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA

    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.

  11. Archive Info - Previous Project Description

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA

    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.

  12. Florida-Orchard Prairie Pollinator Signage

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bee Campus USA
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Prairie Restoration at Florida & Orchard
    Increase Pollinator-Friendly Areas

    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: 

  13. Weekly Update: Summer operations

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    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 Center

  14. SSC Semesterly Report June 2021: Meadow at Orchard Downs Low Mow Zone

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Meadow at Orchard Downs
    Low Mow Zones
    Issue Press Releases and Sustainability Reports

    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.

    Attached Files: 

  17. Spring 2021 SSLC Board Meeting Minutes

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Leadership Council (SSLC)

    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. 

  19. 2021 Photos of Florida-Orchard Prairie (Jan-May)

    Associated Project(s): 
    Prairie Restoration at Florida & Orchard

    Photos were taken by Alice Berkson from January 2021 - May 2021 of the Florida-Orchard prairie on campus. These photos are taken each month at the same locations and are of a high enough resolution such that small sections can be enlarged to identify plants and other features. Each month, there are 4 photos taken from the view of NW diagonally looking SE, NE diagonally looking SW, or vice versa. Additional shots from other perspectives are taken as well!

    See the Box folder to view or download the photos!

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