iSEE is hosting a campuswide Plastic Free Challenge throughout March! Participants will track their plastic use until March 28 using a predetermined grid and point system. The goal is for campus and community members to reduce their plastic consumption and refine their waste reduction skills. Tips and resources will be provided throughout the challenge, with the chance for prizes upon completion! 

Plastic Free Challenge

All, Fairly slow week even with the “warmer” weather. Had our first fix-a-flat class for the semester but no takers, unfortunately.

This week I’ll finish up the Bike Center history piece for marketing and have a training scheduled with a new staffer on Thursday evening. I’ll pick up some more bikes as well since we’ve worked through all the bikes in the shop, already. We’ve exceeded designated capacity for bikes already but the more we build, the more we can sell when it gets warm—hopefully.

The numbers:
Visitors: 12
Sales: $208
Memberships: 4 for $120
Misc: $52.50
Tire/tubes: 3 for $22

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Manager

Hello! Thank you for registering for the iSEE Plastic Free Challenge during the month of March. You have taken an important step to becoming more conscious of your daily plastic use, and we are excited to help as you continue your journey to becoming plastic-free. You are likely to know others who use too much plastic (after all, it's everywhere!); remember, it is extremely important to share the tips and resources throughout the challenge with other people and to lead by example.

The Plastic Free Challenge will last four weeks: Monday, March 1 until Sunday, March 28. Each day, keep track of the items you throw away using the predetermined point system (attached). Each plastic item yields points and environmentally-friendly actions subtract points from your total, examples of which can be found on the point list. You do not need to track the items that you reuse or recycle. The goal is to earn as few points as possible. Please submit your grid at the end of each week by the following Monday at 8:00 a.m. using the Google Form. This week, upload the grid to the Week 1 Google Form by Monday, March 8 at 8:30 a.m.

While the grid is a great way to track and total your points at the end of the day, we suggest you keep track of points on your phone or a piece of scratch paper as you throw away the items. Every week, we will send resources to assist you in this challenge and remind you to keep up the great work. This is a challenge, and it is not going to be easy!

Remember - refuse plastics when you can, and make sure to repurpose and recycle those you must take. Hopefully, throughout the challenge, you develop a personal habit of waste consciousness. All participants will be entered into a raffle at the end of the challenge to win prizes! You will earn an entry for each week that you submit your grid and point total.

We encourage you to engage with fellow participants on UIUC’s Sustainability forum: Waste Reduction @ Illinois | Facebook. This is where we welcome you to post questions, tips, and resources to support each other during this challenge!

Please respond to this email if you have any further questions and reach out to us at any time throughout the month. We would love to hear from you! We are very excited to kick off this fun and impactful challenge with you all. Remember to recommend friends, family, and colleagues to join the challenge as well! It is never too late.

Thank you and have fun!

Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainability Programs Coordinator

Emily Dickett, iSEE Sustainability Intern

RailSplitter Wind Farm provided the February 2021 Buyer's Share amounts by hour, totaling 2193.0 Megawatt hours. See attached file.

The iWG met on 2-25-21 to discuss the Energy 004, Energy 005, and Resilience 002 iCAP team recommendations. Meeting minutes are attached.

The Environmental Justice Working Group met on 2-26-2021 (meeting minutes attached) and discussed the next steps to move forward with environmental justice planning. These include: 

• Review EJ plan framework and provide initial comments/feedback and think about what you wish existed
• Review key indices that we know we can change/have control over (e.g., trees in Urbana but not influence over interstate commerce or international trade)
• Revisit initial indicators of resilience document which address some broad environmental justice categories; review this document and give some thought to these categories (how can we address specific challenges and solutions, what data is needed to tackle these? e.g., review local control such as emergency shelters)
• As you are researching and/or reflecting on this, consider a health angle and the overlap of environmental justice challenges
• Here is a direct link to the EJ Box Folder where other resources are housed

Below are data sets provided by Scott Tess and Lacey Rains Lowe to assist the student work on environmental vulnerability assessments in spring 2021. 

• Champaign County Regional Planning Commission
  • CUUATS, which has local transportation data.  The nice thing about CCRPC is that communities throughout the county are members, so they can provide you with data sets that are more comprehensive
  • https://ccrpc.org/programs/planning/
  • https://ccrpc.org/programs/transportation/
• Other information, such as food insecurity and shelter availability is going to come from outside sources.  One good place to start is the ALICE report from the Champaign County United Way.  https://www.uwayhelps.org/blog/fight-for-ALICE  
• United Way helps fund a lot of local social service programs and can point you in the right direction to getting the most up-to-date information.  With the pandemic, a lot of that info is skewed.  So if you're looking at 2019 data, just know that the reality is worse in 2020/2021, unfortunately
• Champaign County GIS Consortium (Address 1776 East Washington Street, POD 400, Urbana, Illinois 61802), Phone 217.819.3555  phone, email ccgisc@co.champaign.il.us
• Champaign County Climate Resilience Task Force: Initial Efforts https://icap.sustainability.illinois.edu/files/projectupdate/5172/Initial%20Indicators%20of%20Resilience.pdf

Good afternoon, Thank you for registering for our first TED Talk: Eco Edition event, focusing on environmental justice! It was wonderful to see many of you in attendance. Your ideas, input, and questions led to a very thought-provoking and meaningful discussion.

We encourage you to share the TED Talk  with your friends, family members, and peers. Continue the discussion on this important topic and keep initiating conversations – even when they are difficult. Consider joining Waste Reduction @ Illinois | Facebook. This is a great community forum for sharing ideas and continuing sustainability discussions.

Leah Courtney did a fantastic job as our first host of this TED Talk series. We have attached Leah’s presentation for anyone who would like to refer to it as a resource. Keep an eye out for our March TEDTalk: Eco Edition which will focus on the topic of plastics. Additionally, don’t forget to register for our Plastic Free Challenge starting March 1 (Monday!) using this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1IqlSU5c7E5JYcpGljWZjYIg3eMsfz5DJKquM1BqgPWY/viewform?edit_requested=true.

Please reach out with any questions or feedback. We thank you again for your participation and enthusiasm, and are already looking forward to the next conversation!

Kindly,

Meredith Moore, iSEE Sustainability Programs Coordinator

Emily Dickett, iSEE Sustainability Intern

TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/david_lammy_climate_justice_can_t_happen_witho...

Join us for iSEE's first TED Talk: Eco-Edition! This month’s theme is "Environmental Justice."

Together, participants will view a prerecorded TED Talk presented by David Lammy, the first Black Member of Parliament to hold the Justice post in British Parliament, titled "Climate Justice Can't Happen Without Racial Justice." Afterward, all are invited to participate in a guided discussion and roundtable.

Our host is Leah Courtney, a sophomore at U of I studying Civil and Environmental Engineering with minors in Spanish and the Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Fellows Program. A student member of the Zero Waste Sustainability Working Advisory Team, Leah is passionate about the environment and social justice.

Sign up to learn, discuss, and connect with peers in a casual, social setting. Grab your favorite snack and get comfortable! Topics and hosts vary each month.

The meeting which took place on 26 February at 4PM (CDT) discussed the following:

• Reusable dining options (Follow-up to Feb 12 guest presentation)
• Reusable dining options (Recommendation)
• Elimination of virgin paper at F&S Stores
• Food Literacy Project

The data for week 3 (February 14 - February 20, 2021) is as follows:

Landfill: 118,040 lbs

Cardboard: 13,590 lbs

Paper: 2854 lbs

Bottles & Cans: 1430 lbs

Food Organics: 3600 lbs