Sarthak and Ethan met in person to discuss Ethan’s updates on his readings on the former 2014 Bicycle Plan. He has completed his review of the 2014 Plan and will delve into the progress reports and updates reports published in 2019, 2022, and 2023 for next week to see which projects have been completed, changed, or left unfinished indefinitely. He will also review the feedback from the League of American Bicyclists based on the University’s Bronze Bicycle Friendly Status awarded in 2019. The goal is to receive Gold Status this August, if not in 2027 because the review is done every 4 years. A main aspect of the 2024 Bicycle Plan will be to achieve Platinum Status by 2031. Sarthak also assured Ethan that many of the projects of the 2014 plan have since been completed which will be seen in the update/progress reports. Ethan’s to do list is to finish his readings relevant to the 2024 Bicycle Plan, such as the update reports. Also, he must begin preparing to consolidate the work he and Sarthak have done. This will then be presented to Sarthak’s bosses which will focus on the plan for this semester and the next two semesters.

Please find attached PDF containing performance metrics for ZipCar usage on campus for January 2023.

As of February 7, Champaign County Forest Preserve, Champaign County Master Naturalists, and the Rotary Club of Champaign have expressed support for the initiative and will advertise the volunteer opportunity to their respective communities come April/May.

On February 7, Daphne Hulse met with Nate Himes (Director of Counseling Ministries) at Merci's Refuge and Tom King (Director of Logistics) + Wally Proenza (VP Retail Operations) at Goodwill Land of Lincoln to discuss donation logistics. On February 13, Daphne will meet with Lisa Sheltra (Director of Community Engagement) + Mike Jenkins (Director of Retail Operations) at Salt & Light.

On February 6, UIUC sustainability representatives met and discussed the following:

Attendance: Bryan Johnson, Steve Breitwieser, Julie Wurth, Shawn Patterson, Dominika Szal, Travis Tate, Jen Fraterrigo, Thurman Etchison, Pete Varney, Tony Mancuso, Daphne Hulse

Agenda:

1. Housing/Dining: #Don’tWasteWednesday

   1. Housing is prepared for their post on Wednesday.

2. Housing/Dining: Glass hauling to Midwest Fiber

   1. Thurman reported that Dining does not pay to dispose of (recycle) their glass at Midwest Fiber.

      Tailgate recycling Fall 2023 - exploring glass recycling.

   2. Dominika will follow up with Midwest Fiber.

3. iSEE: Basketball volunteer sign-up timeline

   1. Daphne to create the sheet, iSEE/Eric to send out/promote.

   2. Volunteer numbers:

      1. 15 sign up spots for 5:00pm-6:30pm (set up, advertisement to those entering)

      2. 35 sign up spots for 6:30pm - 8:00pm (half-time collection, t-shirt giveaway)

      3. 50 sign up spots for 8:00pm - 9:30pm (end-game collection, arena collection, tear down)

4. iSEE: Earth Week/Month programming - interns/Tony/Eric Green

   1. Office Supplies Collection - check on timing of this. Already a lot is planned!

      1. Bypass Surplus: <$100, no p-tag - loop in Steve Breitwieser/Travis Tate into this conversation.

      2. “Take it or leave it,” allow students, faculty, staff, to take and leave items, donate excess office supplies to local schools.

   2. Arbor Day & Tree Planting - ?

   3. Trash Pick-Up - iSEE interns looking into this.

5. F&S CRC: F&S basketball communications strategy

   1. Digital signboards across campus - Coca-Cola to provide a digital sign.

   2. Eweek, GradLinks, iNews posts

   3. Other recommendations?

      1. Outreach to media (recap of previous game, segue into long-term direction).

         1. Daphne to send info to Steve.

         2. Jen: Tim Knox says single-ticket and season-ticket holders receive information. Can we raise visibility of this event to them? Highlight reusable bottle policy. Daphne + Jen to work with Marty + Tim.

6. Group feedback: Game day posters design

   1. Consistent branding with the digital signboards.

   2. Communicate the primary objective of the event.

      1. Feedback

         1. Reduce sponsorship size - remove F&S and iSEE change to general university, move to bottom

         2. Increase size of text, remove “with us,” consider removing “Bottles & Cans”

         3. Increase the size of recycling logo

7. Group feedback: Post-game survey

   1. Did you notice that this was a recycling-focused game? YES/NO

   2. Did you know State Farm Center recycles bottles and cans? YES/NO

   3. Did you recycle your cans and/or bottles at this game? YES/NO/I HAD NO RECYCLABLES

   4. Would you like to see more recycling initiatives at State Farm Center? YES/NO

   5. Can we use this as a vehicle for messaging re: reusable bottles?

      1. Did you know you can bring your own clear, reusable bottle to [check DIA language] athletic events? YES/NO

Energy010 was withdrawn by the Energy iCAP Team in February prior to being discussed at iWG meeting. See below the email from the Energy iCAP Team:

I am writing on behalf of the Energy iCAP Team to let you know that we wish to withdraw ENERGY 010 from consideration at the upcoming February IWG Meeting. During discussion at our January Energy meeting, our team concluded that Energy 010 is better incorporated into a recommendation that we are currently developing, and that we hope to submit for consideration later this spring.

Sincerely,

Tyler Swanson

See the Energy010 Establishment of a Clean Energy Plan Conference Committee recommendation here.

All, Steady week. Had a few new staffers start, held a staff meeting—some good ideas batted around!—and got a couple bikes safety inspected and ready for the sales floor. Still about a dozen bikes that are student-level “finished”.

This week is another round of interviews as we bolster our team for expanding hours and programming this spring/summer. I’ll also move a few forgotten steeds over here from the land of the abandoned bikes.

The numbers:

Visitors: 24
Sales: $151
Memberships: 1 for $30

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

UIUC FY21 carbon credit report per SIMAP/Second Nature can be found here: https://unhsimap.org/public/institution/193 

Net MTCDE (metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent): 340,212.67

Attached is the retirement transaction confirmation from M-RETS (the regional entity that issues unique certificates for the environmental attributes), and the JV for the REC charge. 

For Dr. Jamie Jones

Earth, Society, & Environment 360: Environmental Writing

At last Friday's Illini Lights Out event, 5,043 light bulbs were shut off that otherwise would have been left on all weekend, saving $767.27 in energy costs. This also prevented 6.17 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere, which is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 694 gallons of gasoline being consumed. That's a huge impact!

The next Illini Lights Out event is on Friday, February 10th, and you can sign up using this link. Stay up to date with other sustainability-related events and news by signing up for the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) newsletter here!

Illini Lights Out addresses objectives 2.2 and 2.2.2 of the iCAP, or Illinois Climate Action Plan, to increase energy efficiency and reduce building-level energy. Find out about other iCAP objectives here and read the entire iCAP here.

Illini Lights Out is a certified Green Event! Click this link to learn how to green-certify your own event.