At last Friday's Illini Lights Out event, 2,600 light bulbs were shut off that otherwise would have been left on all weekend, saving $395.58 in energy costs. This also prevented 3.2 metric tons of CO2 equivalent from entering the atmosphere, the same as greenhouse gas emissions from consuming 358 gallons of gasoline. That's a big impact!

There are three more Illini Lights Out events of the semester:

• October 14
• November 11
• December 2

Sign up for one or more of them at this link. Stay up to date with other sustainability-related events and news by signing up for the Institute of Sustainability, Energy, and Environment newsletter here! There are a lot of fun events coming up for campus sustainability month in October, such as a clothing swap, trash pick-up, and plastic reduction challenge. This newsletter will give you details for all of these events and more.

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.

So much plastic is thrown away each year that putting it all together creates enough material to circle the Earth four times. Ouch. More than 99 percent of plastics come from chemicals derived from fossil fuels (petrochemicals), and only about 9 percent of plastic is recycled for reuse. Approximately 500,000 straws are thrown away each day in the United States alone. It is estimated that the average person in the United States generates 185 pounds of plastic each year. Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? Nearly 600 million pounds of plastic fill our oceans, draining from our fresh bodies of water — which we contribute to here in the Midwest!

These are frightening statistics! How much of what is listed above do you think comes from single-use plastics, or items that individuals use and throw away every day? Luckily, you came across this challenge! YOU have the power to change these statistics for the better and not be a contributor to the landfills! 

For the third year, iSEE is hosting a Waste Challenge during Campus Sustainability Month. This year, we are focusing on plastic reduction. Please fill out this form to participate in the Plastic Reduction Challenge. For the challenge, track your waste each day starting October 3 and ending October 30 to understand your daily habits and participate with a fun community! We have made it as easy as possible to track and report what you are throwing away. This challenge will help you learn more about daily waste and provide resources to help during the month and beyond!

Additional instructions will be sent prior to the challenge, and don’t forget that we are here to help throughout the process. For each week that you participate throughout the month, your name will be entered into raffles for sustainability prize packs! We look forward to your participation this October and don’t forget to invite your friends. Have any questions, comments, or concerns? Reach out to iseesustainabilitychallenge@gmail.com.

The Education iCAP team had a virtual meeting from 8:00 AM - 9:00 AM on Friday, September 23rd, to talk about two returned recommendations.

EDU_006 Sustainability in Study Abroad Recommendation: The Education team decided to move on with this recommendation by broadening it on implementing sustainability across all study abroad curriculum. The team will discuss this further at its upcoming October meeting on 10/03 and draft a new recommendation that will build off the original one. 

EDU_005 Sustainable Scholars Program Recommendation: The Education team decided to postpone this recommendation and not consider it for now due to not having enough necessary information defined. The team also thinks that it is too early for this recommendation due to the lack of general sustainability education on campus. The team will get final thoughts about this recommendation from all team members at the October meeting. 

Meeting minutes are attached. 

All, With the onset of cooler weather, we have seen a decrease in visitor numbers. But that has also correlated with a decrease in available for sale bikes.

Last week I had an iSEE student come by to interview me and talk all things bikes, so I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for that story. All publicity is good publicity!

This week I’ll start counting/sorting bikes for the Working Bikes donation—actual date TBD—including moving some of the keeper bikes to the Bike Center to replenish our stock of B-a-Bs and For Sales.

The numbers:

Visitors: 72
Sales: $958.25

Bikes (refurb): 1 for $135
Memberships: 14 for $420
Tires/tubes: 15 for $70

Thanks!

Jacob Benjamin
Campus Bike Center Coordinator

See the attached FY22 annual report for the Northeast Recycling Council (NERC). 

Following email was sent by Sterling Laylock regarding the update:

Hi Sarthak, Yes, we have completed the analysis and are prepared to present our findings for the Astronomy Building.

We will also be sharing relevant data and insights from additional buildings across other regions of the state as well.

Proposed Presentation Date

Thursday, November 10th is our proposed date to present our findings as requested by Morgan White. 

We also plan to conduct a Design Thinking Session that will include numerous stakeholders as requested by Senator Elgie Sims, Vice-Chair IL, Appropriations II. 

He is seeking input regarding a strategic allocation of funding for clean indoor air assessments in K-12 and public buildings around the state in order to elevate public outreach and awareness regarding this critical issue.

Design Thinking Stakeholder Attendees

Primary stakeholders from outside UIUC-iCAP who have expressed a high level of interest in participating include but will not be limited to:

• Cook County Facilities and Sustainability

• Cook County Asset Management

• Chicago Transit Authority

• South Suburban Mayor and Managers

• Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago Asset Management

• The Obama Foundation Presidential Center

• Sinai Chicago Health System

• Indoor Climate Research and Training Center (ICRT)

• Illinois Growth & Innovation Fund for Social Impact

Why Are They Interested?

As we all know, almost all buildings blindly struggle to have enough clean indoor air for us to breathe. 

Stakeholders need help ending potentially harmful health and financial consequences, so people will feel safe using buildings again.

In order to do this, we have proposed an Illinois version of the EPA Clean Air In Buildings Program using eligible American Rescue Plan (ARPA), Bipartisan Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Act Funding. 

Although ARPA dollars have already been allocated in IL, a significant level of funding is still scheduled to be allocated specifically for ventilation and filtration in the near term.

We believe our Energy-Efficient HVAC Infection Control Project under iCAP can serve as an excellent hub for the many fragmented efforts being attempted across the state as we all seek to address this lingering pandemic and pre-pandemic issue. 

Now that we're in the recovery period of our post-pandemic journey, it is imperative that we use this opportunity to address these issues. 

Closing the gap between public health and building science is a key effort that will help us deliver on developing Applied Health Strategies for Climate Adaptation, which is why iCAP exists in the first place.

Let's set a time this week to discuss our proposed date and time so we plan accordingly for a successful event.

Thanks, Sterling

Join the Plastic Free Challenge!

Take part in our zero waste journey! Participate in the Plastic Free Challenge during Campus Sustainability Month this October. From October 3–30, we provide the resources and point system to help you track your plastic use each week and find sustainable alternatives. Take part and earn the chance to win a sustainability prize pack. It’s easy to make a positive impact! Sign up for the challenge.

October 3–30 • Map

Meredith Moore • Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment

 This opportunity is available online.

Congratulations to the newest recipients of the Green Office and Green Event Certification programs!

Green Event:

iSEE Illini Lights Out, Certified September 2022

Illini Lights Out is a series of reoccurring events (Sept. 23, Oct. 14, Nov. 11, Dec. 2) where students volunteer to turn off lights in academic buildings around campus. They are saving energy and promoting sustainability in the progress!

Green Office:

University Library Conservation Lab, Gold Certified September 2022

The University Library Conservation Lab is gold certified with 34 elective actions taken! They notably upgraded their photo documentation lights from incandescent bulbs to LED rated, and the LED lights came from another section of Preservation Services where they were no longer in use. 

Keep up the great work!

The bicycle retrieval for abandoned bicycles that were impounded over the summer 2022 has completed, as of September 23, 2022. We had collected nearly 500 bicycles over the summer, and 24 bicycles were retrieved by the owners. The remaining bicycles will be donated to the Bike Project of Urbana-Champaign and Campus Bike Center for refurbishment, resale, and recycle. Nearly 60% of these unclaimed bicycle will be donated to Working Bikes, a not-for-profit bike shop which fixes up old cycles for sale or to be donated to global communities.

The Bike Month Planning team organized Bike to Work Day on September 14, 2022 from 7 - 10 am at 16 Champaign County locations, including eight on-campus. There were 893 registered to attend before the event this year and nearly 150 people registered on-site during the event! Champaign County Bikes were also present at Alma Mater and Hallene Gateway during Light the Night event as well as Bike to Market Day on September 17, 2022, to meet attendees who could not attend the Bike to Work Day event. The final number of pre-registered attendees (prior to Bike to Market) was 921, which is a new record for this event!

Light the Night was organized on September 15, 2022, from 4 - 7 pm at three campus locations - Alma Mater, Hallene Gateway, and Campus Bike Center. This year, we used Planet Bike blinky lights with silicone straps. We distributed and installed nearly 800 bike light sets during this event! Alma Mater was, by far, the most popular location, where nearly 575 lights were distributed.

Following the event, the Bike Month Plannign team discussed options for next year.

Karl Radnitzer (Associate Director at Uni High) responded to the spring 2022 NRES285 final report with the following action items and requests at the end of June 2022.

=================

I have included Don Marrow (our Business manager) and Elizabeth Majerus ( our Director of the School). The part in red is where is where we need money to complete the projects Don and Elizabeth.

I have read the report. I want to do the following:

1. I will have 8 paper recycle containers on each floor- clearing marked. Should I spray paint them green or blue?
2. Make sure all black containers are for garbage/trash only so we don't find contamination in all recycling bins.
3. The issue with the steel door our previous business manager wanted the wooden doors.  Didn't have much say
4. I would like all lights motions to switched to sensor LED. Don how do we make that happen?
5. We realize our windows are not very effective. We need a complete overhaul of our windows.
6. We did have a group talk to us about food recycling, but they wanted to do the composting inside the building. That was not going to work.
7. On the land section, I have a boy scout do his eagle project on the area right outside the door on Springfield so that it now looks much better. We also have a club taking care of the small garden.
8. Don, how can we get more sensor water bottle filters on each floor.. We have one on third, we need on second near 206 and one near 106 N.

We are very appreciative of Dr. Andrew Stumpf and Dr. Tugce Baser for leading the discussion on geothermal energy on 9-19-22. Please see the attached PowerPoint presentation for an overview of the information provided during the event. Below are additional resources and opportunities to get further involved on the topic:

• Illinois Geothermal Coalition: https://geothermal.illinois.edu/
• “The untapped energy source that could power the planet” by Jamie C. Beard https://www.ted.com/talks/jamie_c_beard_the_untapped_energy_source_that_could_power_the_planet?language=en
• “How to heat your home without hurting the planet” by Kathy Hannun https://www.ted.com/talks/kathy_hannun_how_to_heat_your_home_without_hurting_the_planet?language=en
• Home Energy Rating System (HERS) INDEX: https://www.hersindex.com/hers-index/what-is-the-hers-index/
• DOE Geovision report: https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geovision
• Inflation Reduction Act: Norton Rose Fulbright LLP: https://www.projectfinance.law/tax-equity-news/qa-on-the-inflation-reduction-act#a1
• Inflation Reduction Act: White House Fact Sheet: https://www.whitehouse.gov/cleanenergy/?utm_source=cleanenergy.gov
• Kavita and Lalit Bahl Smart Bridge: https://cee.illinois.edu/news/campus-connection
• Justice40 Initiative: https://www.energy.gov/diversity/justice40-initiative
• Geothermal Collegiate Competition: https://www.energy.gov/eere/geothermal/geothermal-collegiate-competition
• Geothermal Urbana-Champaign 2.0: https://urbanaillinois.us/geothermal

Mark your calendars for our October TED Talk in celebration of Campus Sustainability Month! Lucy Nifong, senior undergraduate student in Agricultural and Consumer Economics, will host the conversation on 10/26 at 7 PM. Register here!

Be sure to check out the full list of sustainability events on the iSEE calendar.