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Project Updates

  1. Final Report: successes, areas for improvement, and feedback

    Associated Project(s): 
    Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola
    America Recycles Day
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    On November 28, 2022 during the weekly Internal Coca-Cola meeting the group reviewed the attached final report.

    Important takeaways:

    • 280 lbs of recycling was collected (cardboard, aluminum cans, plastic bottles), with an event diversion rate of 10.6%. With just incremental changes (student volunteers, recycling bin infrastructure in the upper concourse, and the implementation of blue recycling bags), we achieved this! An even greater diversion rate would not be difficult to achieve.
    • Organizing student volunteers into a shift-based system would cut volunteer time per student, streamline the volunteer training process, and simplify volunteer roles. We could incentivize pre- and post-game volunteerism with tickets to the game.
    • Stronger, more durable blue recycling bags are needed for future events if we are going to have student volunteers handling them; they leak easily otherwise.
    • Dedicate a group of volunteers to just post-game collection from the stands. There is a huge opportunity to collect recyclables left in the cup holders.
    • Feedback from volunteers and attendees was very positive:
      • In a post-event survey released to attendees, 300+ responses showed the following:
        • 51% of attendees were aware that this was a recycling-focused event.
        • 55% of attendees did recycle their bottles and/or cans.
        • 83% of attendees would support future recycling events at State Farm Center.
        • General comments indicated overall support for seeing the volunteers in action and support for the implementation of permanent recycling containers at the facility.

    Next steps:

    • Between F&S and DIA, determine how a recycling receptacle can be placed near the facility so blue recycling bags can be separated from the trash compactor located below the facility.
    • Draft a proposal for permanent recycling bin locations and the associated cost.
    • Look into Coca-Cola beverage sales (20oz and 12oz) and compare this to an estimate of how many were recycled. Coca-Cola and the University would like to see a 100% recycling rate for their products.
    • Plan for the next event! Likely spring 2023 during the basketball season. Big Ten?
    Attached Files: 

  4. 11-28-22 Internal Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola

    On November 28, UIUC sustainability representatives met and discussed the following:

    Agenda:

    1. Final Report walk-through - successes, areas for improvement / iCAP portal walk-through.

    2. How many Coca-Cola bottles are sold versus recycled at State Farm Center:

      1. 872 20-oz bottles sold during the 11-14 game (coke, coke zero, diet coke, sprite, fanta orange, powerade, dasani).

      2. 12-oz bottles sold in the premium area - waiting for a number.

      3. Use the data to calculate a % recovery rate for recyclable materials.

  5. Award Ceremony Invitation

    Associated Project(s): 
    ReImagine Our Future

    Below is an email invitation to award ceremony for the Reimagine our Future student sustainability competition.

     

    Dear Initial Judges and Specialist Advisors,

     

    Thank you so much for your work making this competition possible. I have received submissions on the questionnaire from many of you judges, and clearly, you spent time assessing these students' work and it is much appreciated. Many of you also sat down with students and aided them on their projects. In whatever capacity you were able to help, my advisory committee and colleagues are so appreciative.

    This year the competition was managed by the Student Sustainability Committee and supported by many units across campus. Over 70 UIUC faculty volunteered their services as specialist advisors and judges. Almost 200 students took part including student teams from universities in China and South Africa. Winners will be announced after Saturday’s presentations and the prize money totals $5000. 

    You are welcome to attend the face-to-face award ceremony at the Siebel Center for Design, in which case you should contact my email (aecruz2@illinois.edu) before Wednesday 30 Nov. at 2 p.m. If you cannot attend the physical event, you are welcome to join via Zoom, with details given below. 

    I am also attaching extracts of the top-three winners' entries from last year's competition for your viewing. 

    Thank you again, 

    Allie Cruz 

    Award Ceremony for the 2022 Reimagine our Future student sustainability competition 

    9 a.m. (Central Time) | Saturday, Dec. 3 | Siebel Center for Design, and Zoom 

    Join via Zoom: https://illinois.zoom.us/j/85346452110?pwd=TzhWSHdMZXJpVmNobGtncUYzd0t0dz09 

    Meeting ID: 853 4645 2110 

    Password: 186469 


     

     

  7. Sustainability Sub-Council Meeting Minutes 11-17-22

    Associated Project(s): 
    Sustainability Council
    Include iCAP in Strategic Plan
    Clean Energy Plan

    The Sustainability Sub-Council met on Thursday, November 17 and discussed the following agenda. 

    1) Zero waste
    2) Energy planning
    3) Campus Strategic Plan
    4) Old business
    a. Sustainability General Education requirement
    b. Sustainable land management committee report

    The meeting minutes and PowerPoint presentation are attached. 

    Attached Files: 

  8. ENG 177 Spring '23 Course

    Associated Project(s): 
    ENG 177 GFX Global Sustainability Scholars

    Below is an answer to an inquiry regarding ENG 177 course availability for the spring 2023 semester. 

     

     

    From: Forman, Gretchen M <gforman at illinois.edu> 
    Sent: Monday, November 21, 2022 10:12 AM
    To: Moore, Meredith Kaye <mkm0078 at illinois.edu>
    Subject: RE: ENG100 First Year Experience spring course

     

    Hi Meredith,

     

    I too hope you are doing well!  I miss seeing you!

     

    We will have an ENG 177 Global Sustainability Scholars class in the spring that I will be teaching and I’m hoping we can still partner with you on projects for the students.  This is the class that Angie and I previously taught.  We are partnering with sustainable organizations in Trinidad and Tobago this fall and travelling there in January.  

     

    We then will focus on local sustainability work in the spring and would love to connect the students with you all and the campus projects as we have in the past.  I’d love to find a time after Thanksgiving to chat with you about the details and to catch up.  I’ll be out of the office on Monday the 28th but have availability the rest of that week or the week after.  Let me know what might work for you.

     

    Looking forward to connecting with you soon!

     

    Gretchen

     

  11. Week 6 - Next steps

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    Reduce Bicycle Theft on Campus
    Independent Student Projects

    The next steps for the project progress would be to review the past BFU applications from 2011 - 2019 to understand the stage we as a university are at currently and would help to identify, compare and contrast the work across these timelines to improve the status and make recommendations after reviewing the feedback. 


     

  12. Week 5 - Check in meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Bicycle Friendly University Status
    Reduce Bicycle Theft on Campus
    Independent Student Projects

    In the past weeks,  Aparna reviewed the  BFU Application to understand the scope of work, did research/literature review work, and familiarized herself with the current initiatives taken by the university at present to combat bike thefts. Moreover, she also had a conversation with a transportation staff from UCLA and ASU who had recently reached out to me on their ideas/approach on this topic for a qualitative aspect of this project. The same was also discussed with her capstone advisor, Prof. Lindsay Braun to go over the progress and find better clarity. 

  13. RLF Projects and Dollars

    Associated Project(s): 
    Revolving Loan Fund (RLF)

    The following is an email conversation between Morgan White and Anthony Spurlock.

    Anthony sent the following on Nov 17, 2022:

    Morgan,

    Per your request, 27 RLF projects have been completed totaling $6 million.  41 total projects have been approved totaling $8.6 million.

    Regards,

    Tony

    ----------------

    Morgan sent the following response:

     

    Thanks!  Is the 27 included as part of the 41 approved project, or were there 68 total projects approved? ~Morgan

    ---------

    Anthony clarified:

    27 is part of the 41.

    Regards,

    Tony

     

  15. Zero Waste Basketball Game Follow-up 11-16-22

    Associated Project(s): 
    Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola
    America Recycles Day
    Green Sports Alliance (GSA)

    Thank you for volunteering for the inaugural Fighting Illini, Fighting Waste event on 11/14! You were among more than 45 other student volunteers who helped initiate recycling within State Farm Center! The community-level work you have done to raise awareness for sustainability has helped us strengthen our relationship with Athletics and the fans who attended the game.

    During this event, you helped divert 280 pounds of recyclable material away from the landfill! In total, roughly 11% of the materials consumed at this event were diverted away from the landfill. With this being our very first event, this is something to be extremely proud of. We can only go up from here!

    Make sure to check out the video highlight reel that the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) produced. Did you take any photos of your own during the event? Please upload them to our shared Google Drive folder!

    Are you interested in joining other sustainability initiatives on campus?

    • Join the Zero Waste Illinois Climate Action Plan (iCAP) Team or browse through the other 6 teams.
    • Sign the Use the Bin pledge and commit to always using the recycling bin. We’re working towards our 10,000-signature goal!
    • Sign up for iSEE’s final Illini Lights Out event this semester on 12/2.
    • Sign up for iSEE’s upcoming TED Talk discussion on 12/5 to learn about healthy soils.

    Thank you again for volunteering your time. Please reach out with any questions, feedback, or ideas for future events.

    Sincerely,
    Daphne Hulse

  16. Weekly Updates for the week of 11/7 and 11/14

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center
    Collection and Donation of Abandoned Bicycles

    [11.7.22] All, Last week we completed the bike donation event with Working Bikes. Thanks to some Bike Project volunteers we were able to pack their truck full of bikes in about an hour and a half. Unfortunately, they were unable to take all of the abandoned bikes as there are about 50 left. I’ll work with TBP to deal with the remaining junk bikes as well as the ~200 we’ll keep for refurbishment.

    Last Thursday we were donated another pull-behind trailer, upping our count to 3 of them now. I will discuss with TBP ideas to make better use of these, as they take up a lot of space and we have zero demand for them.

    This week we will reinstate the First Visit Free policy as the cooler weather sets in.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 47

    Sales: $508
    Bike (refurbished): 1 for $225
    Memberships: 1 for $30
    Tires/tubes: 12 for $61

    [11.14.22]

    All, I was out sick for a portion of the non-open hours, but we were still able to get a few bikes on the sales floor and strip some bikes. This week I’ll grab some more of the good bikes from the barn and we’ll get to fixing those. We reinstated First Visit Free and were able to help folks get rolling.

    I had an interview last Friday with a potential new hire and we’ll be having a staff meeting this week to get some of our new staff up to speed as well as provide a refresher for the returning staffers.

    Next week we will be closed for Thanksgiving break. We’ll reopen Monday, 11/28/22.

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 45
    Sales: $434
    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $100
    Memberships: 4 for $120
    Tires/tubes: 8 for $103

    Thanks!

    Jacob Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Coordinator

  17. 11-16-22 External Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    "Don't Waste" with Coca-Cola

    On November 16, UIUC sustainability representatives met with Coca-Cola and discussed the following:

    Attendance: Liz Doeschot, Sarah Carten, Bryan Johnson, Shawn Patterson, Meredith Moore, Jen Fraterrigo, Marian, Shreya Mahajan

    • Debrief after the 11/14 zero waste game:
      • Shift based system for volunteers would work better: keeps the shifts shorter, more engaged volunteers, allows us to focus on specific roles at specific points.
      • Blue bags could be saved back until closer to half-time when things pick up (was a slow start, so it would be wiser to put these folks in other roles during the earlier part of the game).
      • Offer free ticket, so students could enjoy game either first or second half before or after their shift (incentive).
      • Bin placement - think about what works for SFC best (more permanent vs more moveable).
      • Get sustainability trivia announced during the pre-game, so it’s brought to everyone’s attention.
      • People loved the shirts, loved the tote bags.
      • Lots of positive feedback, there was a post-event survey sent out (Marty may have updates next week on responses to this).
      • Reach out to concessionaire about how many Coca-Cola products are sold vs recycled.
      • weight empty bottle to make the transition between number of bottles sold vs weight we gather at the Waste Transfer Station (would be an estimate with upper and lower bounds).
    • Recycling Value Assessment by Circular Solutions
      • Get phone call done after Thanksgiving / in December.
      • Audit done sometime next year.

  18. UIUC Ranked Sagacious IP Global Green100 Top Company

    Associated Project(s): 
    Apply for Recognition

    The University of Illinois has been listed as one of the top companies in Sagacious IP's Global GREEN100 Ranking for its work towards creating a green future!

    Ranking is done through the volume of patents filed in green technology domains as well as the quality of an organization's current and projected green patent portfolio. This portfolio is analyzed through a rigorous methodology which weighs sectors/industries impacted, citation analysis, and 15 other components measuring a company's commitment, impact, and potential. 

  20. CNGES - DOE Long Duration Energy Storage Demos - Request for Pressure Corp visit to Abbott.

    Associated Project(s): 
    Stop Burning Coal at Abbott Power Plant

    Below is an email from Sebestiano Geirdinella:

    Hi Rob, Mike, Morgan,

     

    I know that winter has just arrived so you must be having your hands full, but I wanted to contact you as there is now a DOE call for proposals for Long Duration Energy Storage Demos.

     

    The Demo favors teams composed of industry / commercial partners with academic institutions. Pressure Corp has manifested their continued willingness to serve as commercial / industrial partner.

     

    If our proposal is successful, it would allow us to consider other aspects to the project that would otherwise be too expensive to include into commercial contract without partial federal funding, such as: a) waste heat recovery from Abbott Power Plant, b) an alternate arrangement that includes providing cooling using the expander colder gas exhaust during summer, and c) including the expander at Curtis Road pressure regulation station (it could cover the roughly 3000 ft of electrical interconnection).

     

    As part of the proposal preparation process, we feel it might have value to organize a visit to Abbott Power Plant with Pressure Corp, with the purpose of discussing technical, contractual and sustainability aspects relevant to the Compressed Natural Gas Energy Storage demonstration project:

     

    1. Technical aspects:
      1. Visit the locations
      2. Look for potential tie-ins for waste heat (example: boiler blowdown, steam traps, or flue gas connections that would not be used after the capture pilot projects have been closed).
      3. Look for potential uses for cooling (example: electrical or control rooms, heat rejection from rotating equipment, etc.)

     

    1. Contractual aspects:
      1. Discuss potential PPA general terms (for the Demos FOA, this would be of great help to assess economics and justify commercial potential; ideally this meeting could be with PEI).

     

    1. Sustainability aspects:
      1. Talk about how project integrates into iCAP (Pressure Corp wanted also to ask about potential benefits that the project may have on UIUC’s STARS rating).

     

    It would be ideal to schedule the visit within the next couple of weeks, since we need to submit a Letter of Intent for DOE by the second week of December, but we are subject to your availability.

     

    Please let us know if you have preferred dates.

     

    Thanks and regards,

     

    SEBASTIANO GIARDINELLA

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