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  1. press release about zero waste game day

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste Gameday Challenge Fall 2014

     

     

       

                                                                NEWS

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                     Oct. 1, 2014

    For more information contact

    Jim Dexter, Communications Coordinator (217) 244-3290

     

    ILLINI HOMECOMING GAME KICKS OFF MUCH MORE THAN

    A GREAT DAY OF FOOTBALL

     

    Illinois Moves to a More Sustainable Future at Its First Gameday Recycling Challenge 

     

    CHAMPAIGN, IL – This year’s University of Illinois Homecoming game against the Minnesota Golden Gophers is about more than Orange and Blue – it is also about Green.  For the first time, various campus and community partners are working together to raise awareness and have a positive lasting impact at the inaugural Zero-Waste Football Game.  Hundreds of volunteers from all over the Urbana-Champaign community will assist the thousands of spectators in reducing waste – from the money spent sending materials to landfill to the volume of materials that impact our water, air, and soil.

    “As our students, staff, faculty, and alumni gather at Homecoming, this game is a fantastic opportunity to get everyone involved in making a difference.  A recycling competition is a fun way for all to participate and in the end, know what they have accomplished.”” said Bart Bartels, sustainability outreach specialist for the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who is coordinating this effort. “This is our first step to move Illinois to the top of the recycling competition’s leaderboard.”

    As our team takes the field and faces a fierce opponent, those involved in the Zero-Waste event face stiff competition from our Big 10 rivals, as this even is part of a National Competition divided up by conference and division.  Last year, Ohio State won the Big Ten challenge by piling up only 10 points (diverting 90 percent of their waste for recycling or composing).  Our Homecoming opponents, the Gophers, scored a 17 (an 83 percent diversion rate).  “While we always want to beat our Big Ten opponents, this year also serves as a baseline.  We will assess where we are and how to improve going forward,” Bartels said.

    Leading this cooperative initiative are ISTC, the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, Facilities & Services, and the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment.  They hope to encourage more sustainable recycling practices across the community.  Anyone who is interested in getting involved is welcome to join in the efforts.  To volunteer for the event, sign up at: http://bit.ly/1vN44SK. We are looking forward to having a large student involvement in order to make this event a success.

    Nationwide, the Game Day Recycling Challenge is a partnership of the College and University Recycling Coalition (CURC), RecycleMania and Keep America Beautiful (KAB), and is supported by EPA’s WasteWise program.

    Also do your part as a fan by liking the Fighting Illini Gameday Recycling Challenge Facebook page: https:// www.facebook.com/events/518311078270593/

    For more information, contact Bart Bartels at bbartel@illinois.edu.

     

    10114                                                                                -30-

    		  
     

     

  2. comments from Grace Kyung

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team

    Hi all, 

    Unfortunately, I will not have time to review and offer detailed feedback as things have caught up with me trying to do preliminary work for being out of town for the rest of the week.

    Some things I would like us to consider though for our future is:

    • To work closer with parking and thinking of how we can create incentive programs. I thought it’d be a good discussion to have with the Director of Parking or someone else who could help make decisions on this behalf 
    • I believe in order for the Campus Bike Plan to be implemented then there needs to be a Campus Bicycle Coordinator
    • However, if we do want to push for a Campus Bicycle Coordinator then I was thinking we could push for something larger which would encompass this role but instead push for Sustainable Transportation Coordinator. I believe a sustainable transportation coordinator would be beneficial for our university because this will connect all forms of transportation and there is large room for growth in this area of sustainability. I believe this person would be the bridge between transportation and the university in aiding in the completion of our iCAP goals. In addition, be able to push for the Campus Bike Plan, creating better walkability plans, working with MTD, and so forth 
    • I believe for bike sharing program the university should work with community partners like MTD, City of Urbana, City of Champaign, and CUPHD to pull together funding together to fund a community wide bike sharing feasibility study in order to help us implement our campus bike sharing program. In addition, I think it should be discussed if its best to have a bike rental program for students instead of bike sharing and how to best create a departmental bike sharing program

    Those are some initial thoughts. I look forward to hearing how the meeting goes. Please let me know if I should clarify anything. I will limited access to email prior to our meeting. 

    Thanks,

    Grace

  3. F&S student LAS projects

    Associated Project(s): 
    LAS Honors College - Sustainability Partners [ARCHIVED]

    These students are working with Morgan Johnston for LAS Honors College credit in the James Scholar program for Fall 2014.

    • Ethel Liao – BIF crosswalk
    • Sicong Fang – BIF crosswalk
    • Jack Carrera – Bike Census
    • Cara Ruan – Communication about Climate Change
    • Vicki Prince – tree campus
    • Ricki Runions – tree campus

  4. comments on draft from Marcus Ricci

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    I like the revisions, Warren and SWATeam.

    I know that this is late – and I meant to mention it on the earlier draft but forgot – are you making any recommendations for handling C&D waste? Thoughts:

    • Campus and contractors must weigh all C&D waste generated at a worksite (scale is available for free at the WTS) and report to the Capital Projects office (and iSEE, or the STARS reporter)
    • All C&D waste must be disposed of at an approved C&D recycling center, such as MidAmerica Recycling, which accepts it for free (but doesn’t weigh it or provide any receipts)

    Cheers,
    Marcus

  5. comments on draft from Junhua Jiang

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    Warren and SWAT Team:

    Thank you very much for your time and the new version. I think that it is in great shape. I will be available on October 13.

    Best regards,

    Junhua Jiang

    Senior Research Engineer, PhD

    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

    Illinois Sustainable Technology Center

  6. note from Amy and Kishore

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    From: Rajagopalan, Nandakishore
    Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 5:36 PM
    To: Amy Liu
    Cc: swat-water@dib.illinois.edu
    Subject: RE: Update

    I think that’s a great idea. Do contact the wolverines

    From: Amy Liu
    Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 5:13 PM
    To: Thayer, Danielle J
    Cc: swat-water@dib.illinois.edu; Nishant Makhijani
    Subject: Re: Update

    Hi all,

    I will probably be unable to attend tomorrow's meeting due to a time conflict with SSC. 

    Along the lines of something I conveyed before, there are minor differences between the inputs we've entered for UIUC water use and the data that is shared in "iCAP Water Emissions". These might need to be resolved in order to propose the most useful benchmarks. And for our special interest University of Michigan, I am considering whether I should contact someone from their water institute to gather more information about their use statistics and strategies. I assume that such information will be be more related to our later goals. Let me know what you think.

    Best regards,

    Amy Liu

  9. notes about stormwater and targets

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    Dear SWATwater team and Ben,

    Good morning, unfortunately I have to attend another meeting (today 10/1 & again 10/15) during our swat water meeting time. I'm truly sorry for my absence today. 

    I've attached my notes on the storm water aspect of the reduction/re-use goals and scenarios, with a draft list of recommended steps/studies to support moving forward through planning and design. I hope these goals and strategies hit the level of information needed at this point, supporting 5) d. of Kishore's handout. They can be translated into the recommendation format for future iCAP working group review, post Oct 22.

    Ben, I'm sorry to miss the chance to meet you today - I look forward to the next opportunity. 

    And I look forward to any comments from the team.

    Very best,

    Mary Pat

    Mary Pat Mattson, RLA, ASLA

    Assistant Professor : Department of Landscape Architecture

    College of Fine and Applied Arts : UIUC

    Attached Files: 

  10. update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste iCAP Team

    Hello, SWATeam and Consultation Group.  Thank you for your comments on the draft report and for providing additional information.

    Here is the report that our SWATeam is submitting to iSEE.  Let's hope that it will be helpful.

    The next step is drafting a revised section of the iCAP.  Let's meet on Monday, October 13 at 4:30 pm (Dilip, can you find a room?).  I'll send around a draft before the meeting.

    Best wishes.

    Warren Lavey

    Attached Files: 

  11. meeting update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    Hello everyone,

    I have updated the SWAT folder with the new minutes and documents that have been being passed around.

    Just a reminder, 2 weeks ago, we spoke about how we may want to utlize our volunteers moving forward, and also, about reaching out to other faculty/ staff at UIUC to get an expert opinion on some of our ideas for the new iCAP goals. Since we have 3 meetings left until the Campus Sustainability Day deadline, establishing these decisions this week so that we have 2 weeks to coordinate might be beneficial. (I can also assist in reaching out to persons we are interested in to save you some time once we establish a date).

    Our next meeting will be Wednesday, October 1st in NSRL room 358 at 12 pm. I will see you all there.

    Have a great day,

    Danielle

  12. note from Amy Liu

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    Hi Kishore,

    The spreadsheet is very helpful, many thanks. 

    I quickly combed through the document and didn't find any errors in calculation. However, there seem to be minor differences between inputs for UIUC water use when compared to the "iCAP Water Emissions" spreadsheet Ben recently shared with us e.g 1023 mgpy vs. 1063 mgpy.  

    I might look at University of Michigan more closely later today since it's of special interest to us.

    Amy Liu

  13. draft Water targets

    Associated Project(s): 
    Water and Stormwater SWATeam

    Amy/Lance/Lance:

    If you have the time, please go through the attached xlsx and see if you can catch either transcription or formulaic errors.

    Stephanie/Keith: If you have data from 2005 on water consumption per year and buildings sq. ft. age that would help us in estimating annual growth rates.

    Thanks

    N. Rajagopalan PhD

    Attached Files: 

  16. project update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Green My Crib

    Hi Morgan,

    The project I am working on is called Green My Crib. I have attached the flyer that I sent out to houses below. Basically, I made a checklist of items in the categories of energy, waste, green purchasing, education and community. Houses compete against each other by receiving points based on what items from the checklist they implement in their house. 

    Right now, I am trying to get houses interested. The end goal right now is to get about 5 houses interested this semester and expand next semester. I am planning to do audits of the houses who sign up so I can recommend the best ways for them to make their houses more green.

    Let me know if you can think of any ways to better publicize this competition to the Greek community or if you know any students interested in helping out.

    Regards,

    Madeline Kull
    University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
    College of Civil and Environmental Engineering

     

    Attached Files: 

  17. SSC Education Working Group

    Hello Education Working Group Members,

    I am Nishant Makhijani, the SSC Education WG Chair for this semester. I am reaching out to you to set up a time for our first WG meeting. We will be meeting in week of the Oct. 13th. Please fill out the doodle by 5pm, Wednesday so we can book the room accordingly.

    http://doodle.com/six87wqt6x6w7rsg

    Looking forward to working with you all. 

    Thanks,

    Nishant Makhijani 

    PS: If you would like to removed from this list, please let me know.

  18. Agenda for meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team

    Dear Colleagues:

    I have asked Tina Candler to schedule a meeting of our group for as soon as possible.

    I have attached the our Fall 2014 report….

    In preparation for our next meeting, please read the report and think about the following

    1. Should the transportation iCAP targets be modified?

    2. For each of the iCAP targets how should we modify the previous year’s report?  Are there new strategies or action steps that we should be proposing?

    3. Are there additional strategies to reduce transpiration emissions we have no thought of?

    4. Can we make proposals about additional data collection that would help to advance the interests of ICAP in the area of transportation.

    Please come to our next meeting prepared to discuss the above.  If you would like to edit our Fall 2014 report prior to the meeting, feell free to do so.

    Best wishes

    Wojtek

    Wojtek J. Chodzko-Zajko, PhD
    Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan Professor and Head

    Department of Kinesiology and Community Health

    Attached Files: 

  19. MTD solar array article

    Associated Project(s): 
    Support the MTD Bus System

    "This summer, the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD) maintenance facility got something cool to go on top of its roof — a big photovoltaic system — 1,212 panels.

    According to Jane Sullivan, whose title at CUMTD is grant manager and sustainability planner (and who is a 2012 graduate of the UI School of Earth, Society, and Environment, where I teach), it's the biggest solar array operating in central Illinois.

    It generates 350,000-kilowatt hours of electricity over the course of the year, which translates to one quarter of the electricity used there. (The maintenance facility is a busy place, operating 24/7 when the UI is in session and providing full service maintenance for the district's 102-bus fleet.)

    Sullivan said the investment in solar is in keeping with the broader environmental mission of the district. "We're interested in finding as many ways as we can to reduce our environmental impact, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is an important part of that."" - Rob Kanter, http://www.news-gazette.com/living/2014-09-28/environmental-almanac-loca...

     

  20. SEDAC installs a Max-R recycling bin

    Associated Project(s): 
    Install Appropriate Waste Collection Infrastructure

    Morning, all.

    Courtesy of Max-R (big name in recycling bins), we have a new, functional, clean, state-of-the-art rubbish/recycling station in the break room (photo attached). It will still be serviced by our same cleaning staff. As free time allows, I’ll update the signage. The cardboard bin is next to the pretty bin. Note the SEDAC logo and the “this is made from 1501 recycled milk jugs” image.

    Thanx to Lucas, Stevie, Carrie, Aaron and others for logistical and physical support in getting it sited.

    Cheers,
    Marcus

    Attached Files: 

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