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Projects Updates for collection: Student Sustainability Committee Funded Projects

  1. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn,

    Zero-waste activities this past week were:

    • Following up with departments participating in the glove recycling program for their lab/room number and PI information. We’re gathering that information for our work with the Division of Research Safety (DRS) to ensure that we have good measures in place to prevent biohazards and dangerous chemicals from entering the recycling stream.
    • Updates to the glove recycling information on the iCAP portal to clean up location information. I also updated the project team information with the name of our new Kimberly-Clark contact (Sara Portillo).
    • Organizing contact, lab/room number, and PI information into spreadsheets for DRS and for the BER student volunteers who will help us identify teaching coordinators in the participating labs.

    I entered 3.3 hours to cover these activities.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  4. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, this past week was comfortably slow. Sold out of bikes.

     

    I reached out to Working Bikes about them coming down to pick up bikes but haven’t heard back yet. Will follow up this week.

     

    I’ll also be picking up bikes from UIPD and processing them. I got a report that the pump at Altgeld/Union is on the fritz. I’ll check that out this week and see if I can get it operational without ordering any new parts. Fingers crossed.

     

    Tuesday morning I’ll be meeting with someone from the Illini Gadget Garage. They do a very similar thing to the Bike Center, except with electronics/small appliances: teaching people how to repair them.  

     

    Thursday is LTN 2018. We’ve got a record number of lights to install this year!

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 116
    Sales: $1,086

    Bikes (refurb): 1 for $180
    Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $97.50
    Memberships: 17 for $510
    Tires/tubes: 23 for $153

     

    Jake Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Manager

  5. PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator recommendation - Assessment Started

    Associated Project(s): 
    iCAP Working Group (iWG)
    Zero Waste Recommendations Summary
    Zero Waste

    The iCAP Working Group (iWG) met on September 17, 2018, to discuss and start the assessment of the PWR 013 - Zero Waste Coordinator recommendation. The iWG's draft assessment was:

    "The iWG supports moving forward with hiring a Zero Waste Coordinator, and we would stress that their responsibilities are twofold: educate the campus on recycling, and to push for system changes to improve campus recycling."

    See SWATeam Recommendation PWR013 Zero Waste Coordinator here.

  7. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    It was a quiet week for zero waste. I got a few responses from labs participating in the glove recycling program and had some email with the student volunteers from BER. I plan to wrap up lab contacts this week and report back to Morgan and DRS with as much information as I was able to gather.

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

  9. 18S Semesterly Report - FSHN Projects

    Associated Project(s): 
    Student Sustainability Committee (SSC)
    Sustainable Agricultural Food System

    Spring 2018 semesterly report submitted to the Student Sustainability Committee for the hand sink replacement, tortilla expansion, juicing processing, pumpkin puree, and extrusion expansion projects.

    Attached Files: 

  10. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, this past week calmed down a bit. We were still busy but manageably so instead of overwhelmed. Friday’s heavy and constant rain kept visitor number low for that day. Last week I interviewed and will be hiring a new student worker. I reached out to Working Bikes about them taking a lot of our abandoned bikes as in years past but I haven’t heard back from them yet.

     

    I taught a Bike Maintenance 101 class last Monday. It went well, even if there was  low turnout. I picked up 12 bikes or so from UIPD. They’ve got another 10 – 12 for us and I’ll coordinate with them this week on that. I’ll also be finishing up some bikes so we have a few for sale, stripping some of the junkers that we got from UIPD and working on inventory as we look towards fall.

     

    The numbers:

     

    Sales: $1,586.00

    Memberships: 11 for $330
    Bikes (refurb): 4 for $695
    Bikes (B-a-B): 2 for $104.50

    Tires/tubes: 14 for $112

     

    Thanks!

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  11. Update from Joy Scrogum

    Associated Project(s): 
    Illini Gadget Garage

    Amanda Elzbieciak, IGG workshop manager recently updated our impact statistics document. See attached.  As of July 2018, through repair assistance and collection of special materials (e.g. single-use and rechargeable batteries, CDs and their cases) the project has diverted 740.88 lbs. of material from the waste stream. ISTC will not be continuing as the coordinating agency. I'm working with Amanda to explore options for transitioning the project to a different unit on campus and will post any updates on that as they become available. - Joy Scrogum

     

    Attached Files: 

  12. Recontacted BER Volunteers

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    With the students back in town for the semester, Marya Ryan re-contacted the Business in Environmental Responsibility (BER) volunteers she spoke with in the spring. The volunteers are helping with the glove recycling program. Over the summer, they identified contacts for nonparticipating departments with $2,000 or more in nitrile glove purchases for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2017-2018. Ryan emailed their contact person, Meghna Vijayan, and caught her up on events over the summer, such as the relocation of the trailer at PPSB and F&S's work with the Division of Research Safety. Ryan also asked whether they could help identify teaching coordinators in the teaching labs to assist with that work.

  13. Working with Division of Research Safety on Glove Recycling Safety

    Associated Project(s): 
    Glove Recycling

    Morgan White and Marya Ryan had a phone call with Monica Miller of the Division of Research Safety (DRS) and Shantanu Pai. F&S is working with DRS to ensure that labs/facilities participating in the glove recycling program are employing best safety practices to prevent biohazards and dangerous chemicals from entering the recycling stream. Ryan has emails out to participating labs to gather lab names, room numbers, and PI contact information so that F&S can start assessing any additional instructions, training, or other program components that will support safe practices.

  14. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn--

    Zero waste activities for the past week were

    • Morgan White and I had a phone call with Monica Miller of the Division of Research Safety and Shantanu Pai. We are working with her to ensure that labs/facilities participating in the glove recycling program are employing best safety practices to prevent biohazards and dangerous chemicals from entering the recycling stream. I have emails out to participating labs to gather lab names, room numbers, and PI contact information so that we can start assessing any additional instructions, training, or other program components that will support safe practices.
    • With the students back in town for the semester, I re-contacted the Business in Environmental Responsibility (BER) volunteers we spoke with in the spring. They are helping with the glove recycling program. They helped us over the summer by identifying contacts for nonparticipating departments with $2,000 or more in nitrile glove purchases for the first three quarters of fiscal year 2017-2018. I emailed their contact person, Meghna Vijayan, and caught her up on events over the summer, such as the relocation of the trailer at PPSB and our work with the Division of Research Safety. I asked whether they could help identify teaching coordinators in the teaching labs to assist with that work.
    • Morgan agreed with Robert McKim's suggestion that the battery recycling proposal his committee formulated this spring and summer be adopted by the PWR SWATeam. The committee that drafted the proposal is one that he and several other interested faculty members formed (the Campus Committee on Recycling Batteries). He solicited input from me, Morgan, and Joy Scrogum. He will take it to the PWR SWATeam meeting on Sept. 10.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan

  15. Campus Committee on Recycling Batteries' Proposal to Go to PWR SWATeam in September 2018

    Associated Project(s): 
    Battery Recycling

    During the 2017-2018 academic year, interested faculty members formed the Campus Committee on Recycling Batteries. Members included Clara Bosak-Schroeder, Ömer Özgür Çapraz, Marcus Smith, and Robert McKim. They developed a draft proposal for a pilot battery recycling program that would be coordinated across the campus and eventually become self-sustaining. They sought input from Joy Scrogum, Morgan White, and Marya Ryan. Robert McKim joined the PWR SWATeam starting with the fall 2018 semester. He will take the proposal to the team at its September 2018 meeting so that the team can take ownership of the proposal and help move it forward.

  16. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, busy, busy week, as it always is this time of year. A few members completed their B-a-Bs, sold more memberships due to the suspension of the First Visit Free policy. Very few instances of people scoffing at the price/cost of entry, as most understood that a membership is a darn good deal. At its worst we had 10 people waiting for stand time.  


    One of the student workers, Tovah, gave her 2 weeks’ notice last week, as her class schedule is too demanding for her to also work here. I’ll be interviewing/hiring a replacement ASAP.

     

    Todd helped out with picking up scrap over the weekend and Barry got the sign-in computer up and running (though it could die at any moment). Lucas and Logan (former staffers both) visited the shop on Friday and ended up volunteering, which was super awesome of them. Thanks to all four gentlemen for their help!

     

    This week I’ve got the Bike Maintenance 101 class tonight at the ARC. I’ll be building bikes (2 for sale right now), coordinating with UIPD to pick up some donated bikes they have for us, and reaching out to Working Bikes and the Parking Dept. about our annual Bike Warehouse Clean Out.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 83 (actual number was much higher; sign-in computer was down)

    Sales: $1,891.50

    Memberships: 21 for $630
    Bikes (refurb): 4 for $520
    Bikes (B-a-B): 3 for $246.50
    Tire/tubes: 27 for $136

     

    Thanks!

    - Jake Benjamin
    Campus Bike Center Manager

  17. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn,

    • Morgan finalized plans for a glove recycling meeting with the Division of Research Safety to discuss whether training may be needed to prevent gloves that have been in contact with harmful chemicals going into the recycling stream. Our instructions for participating labs note that gloves that such gloves cannot be recycled, but we want to discuss whether further instruction or training should take place. The call is scheduled for Sept. 4.
    • I posted glove recycling statistics that Kimberly-Clark sent us in the spring and back-dated the entry accordingly (April 10, 2018).

    Best regards,

    Marya Ryan

    Zero Waste Coordinator

  18. Weekly Update

    Associated Project(s): 
    Campus Bike Center

    All, busy times have arrived! We’ve mostly sold out of bikes (4 left), and been registering bikes like crazy. With a dearth of for sale bikes, we’ve got an uptick of B-a-Bs, for better or worse. The tail end of last week I officially suspended the First Visit Free option for the Campus Bike Center. Just too busy to accommodate freebies. I’ll reinstate FVF when it calms down, usually in October. I’ll add that info to the website today.

    Last week featured a lot of stern talking-tos with members about the concept of not being allowed to work on your bike without a stand. There’s a lot of pushback on it and I’ll attempt this week to emphasis the safety aspect and maybe that’ll help.

     

    Over the weekend were two outreach events: Quad Day and Illini Frenzy. Both were well-attending and well-received! I handed out a lot of registration forms and TBP hours pages.

    This week I’ll be interviewing for a potential new hire, building bikes, attending the Bike Project monthly meeting, and stripping the junk bikes we got donated last week to keep the shop as clean as I can during the busy times.

     

    The numbers:

    Visitors: 123

    Sales: $1,677.00

    Bikes (refurb): 6 for $960
    Memberships: 8 for $240
    Tires/tubes: 19 for $83

    Thanks!

    • Jake Benjamin
      Campus Bike Center Manager

  19. Weekly Update for Zero Waste

    Associated Project(s): 
    Zero Waste

    Hi Pete and Shawn—

    Last week’s zero waste activities were

    • Entering my weekly updates from the past year into the iCAP portal. I had been posting specific activities to specific projects, but the new entries will show a fuller (and more centralized) history of the past year’s discussions, efforts, and challenges.
    • A few emails with Morgan to try to set up a meeting regarding the glove recycling program.

    Best regards,
    Marya Ryan
    Zero Waste Coordinator

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