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Project Updates

  1. idea for a Native Plants and Pollinator support discussion group

    In August, this group discussed the general topic of native plants and pollinator support. We considered options for measuring the effectiveness of the current landscape as pollinator support, and we considered methods for encouraging more native plantings throughout the community.  One big hurdle is that there is no actual funding available.  One of the examples of past success with a similar situation is Champaign County Bikes, where a group of highly motivated community members worked together to change the bicycling culture.  We determined that a good first step would be for iSEE to invite interested individuals together to discuss options for moving forward.  (There are several groups that should be invited, so it will not be difficult to find the interested folks.)

    Scott Tess, from the City of Urbana, provided the following related links:

    http://pollinator.org/PDFs/Guides/PrairieParklandrx12FINAL.pdf

    http://resilient-cities.iclei.org/fileadmin/sites/resilient-cities/files/Resilient_Cities_2013/Using-Ecological-Theory-Guide-Urban-Planting-Design_low.pdf

    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3353335/

  2. Update from Bart to Tracy

    Hi Tracy,

    Plans are coming together for the waste audits so let me give you the latest.

    1.        We will start by auditing BIF on the week of October 5-9.  Kari Cooperider is our contact.  Everything is in place at this venue.  Bin mapping has already been done.

    2.       The Illini Union will be audited the week of October 12-17.  Dave Guth and David Parker are our contacts.  They are working to have Area provide them with a roll off for that week.  Bin mapping has been done.  They are already looking to purchase new bins and change signage.

    3.       LAR will be audited the week of October 19-23.  Contact is Michael Wassom.  To do this audit we would like a roll off placed on site for that week.  Can you help us with that?  Bin mapping has already been done.

    4.       RAL is also scheduled for October 19-23.  Our contacts are Wes Riggsby and Ron Eggett.  For this audit they have agreed to use liners for that week.  They are also going to try and direct any waste from the Chemical Life Sciences building to the dumpsters on the other side of their building.  RAL has a very deep dumpster.  Could you replace that for the week with a shorter version?  We are happy to make frequent pickups to accommodate a decrease in capacity.   

    The materials will be collected and then sorted behind ISTC.  To accommodate student workers, the timing of the sorts will be from 3pm -7pm each day.  Materials will then either be dropped on the dumpster and recycling bins at ISTC or taken to the WTS the next morning.  I think most will have to be taken to the WTS because of the limited capacity at ISTC.  Surveys will also be done on each building.  Art and Design students are also putting together a structure built from waste.  Final reports on everything should be complete by year end.  Please let me know if you have any questions or want to discuss in more detail. 

    Cheers,

    Bart

     

  3. Green Apple Day of Service letter from iSEE to local schools

    The USGBC Green Apple Day of Service (http://greenapple.org/dayofservice) was September 26, 2015, and iSEE Associate Director Madhu Khanna sent a letter to local schools encouraging them to participate.  The letter is attached here, and the outcomes are shown on the USGBC website at http://www.usgbc-illinois.org/green-apple-day-of-service-success-stories/.

  4. UIUC recognized for use of Local Foods

    Associated Project(s): 

    "The University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign spends 25 percent of its yearly food budget on locally grown or processed food items. Campus dining services also exclusively serve fair trade coffee and almost all seafood is sustainably harvested. The university is also very committed to reducing waste and has enacted efforts to recycle cooking oil for biodiesel production and currently a quarter of the meals served on-campus are trayless."

    http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/The-Bite/2015/0826/Twelve-college-camp...

  5. weekly update

    Associated Project(s): 

    The past few weeks have been very busy.  I have not been able to write a weekly digest.  We have seen a massive increase in people coming in.  The shop has been operating at above capacity, but with some patience on the part of those coming in as well as some kind volunteers we have gotten by.  We have tabled at the International Student Check in, Quad Day, and the Paraprofessional Resource Fair.  We pulled about 80 bikes from the warehouse, donated quite a few bikes to Habitat for Humanity, and a couple to the YMCA.  I helped coordinate bike volunteers for Dump and Run and helped a little coordinating volunteers for Habitat for Humanity.  I helped the organizers of the Illinois Bike Summit find speakers for the Community Bike Shop portion of the Summit.  I helped create some new advocacy materials.

    This week I plan on reorganizing the Center to fix the chaos of the last few weeks, building bikes, printing more advocacy materials, and working on ordering bike parts.

    I will see about creating a class schedule for the semester.

    From the Campus Outpost,

    James Roedl

  6. iWG meeting agenda August 28, 2015

  7. iWG meeting minutes August 28, 2015

  8. Chicago Radio News

    Associated Project(s): 

    A mention about the Solar Farm project (see submission below) will be read on Chicago radio (popular morning show) in September as a part of the university’s branding/marketing efforts.

    UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA - CHAMPAIGN

    Did you know the U of I is building a 20 acre Solar Farm on campus this year that will be one of the largest university solar arrays in the nation?   It will produce enough electricity yearly to power 700 typical U.S. homes.  Just another cool fact brought to you by the U of I.

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