Author: Joy Scrogum

Joy is a Sustainability Specialist at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has worked on developing & maintaining online resources for the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable since 2001. As part of ISTC's Technical Assistance Program, she works on Zero Waste Illinois projects with clients throughout the state, and waste reduction outreach projects including the Illini Gadget Garage and the Green Lunchroom Challenge. Key past projects include coordinating the International Sustainable Electronics Competition, developing & teaching ENG 498 "Sustainable Technology: Environmental & Social Impacts of Innovations," & Greening Schools, which focused on making K-12 facilities & curricula more sustainable. https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyscrogum/
Posted on

Upcoming Food Waste Training & Toolkit Piloting Opportunities

Several upcoming training opportunities are available for those interested in zero waste, specifically the reduction of waste in food service operations.

 

The US EPA Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) program will present a webinar on January 15, 2015, entitled “Food Waste Reduction Alliance, a Unique Industry Collaboration.” The webinar will take place from 12:00 to 1:30 PM CST. Online registration is available.

 

As defined by EPA, sustainable materials management (SMM) is “a systemic approach to using and reusing materials more productively over their entire lifecycles. It represents a change in how our society thinks about the use of natural resources and environmental protection. By examining how materials are used throughout their lifecycle, an SMM approach seeks to:

  • Use materials in the most productive way with an emphasis on using less;
  • Reduce toxic chemicals and environmental impacts throughout the material life cycle;
  • Assure we have sufficient resources to meet today’s needs and those of the future.”

The Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) is a collaborative project of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (representing food and beverage companies), the Food Marketing Institute (representing food retailers), and the National Restaurant Association (representing the food service industry), working to reduce food waste generation, increase food donations to the needy, and to divert unavoidable food waste from landfills through recycling.

 

In addition to the webinar overview of the FWRA, there will be a series of free webinars to guide users through the waste assessment and reduction process presented in the Reducing Wasted Food & Packaging Toolkit (available at http://www.epa.gov/foodrecovery/tools/). All are welcome to participate. The schedule for that series is below. Click on a webinar title to register online.

 

US EPA Region 9 is also inviting food service facilities (restaurants, cafeterias, grocers, and other commercial and institutional kitchens) in California, Nevada, Arizona, Hawaii and the Pacific Islands to pilot the toolkit. Along with the free webinar series, pilot participants are offered one-on-one technical assistance from an EPA team member; the opportunity to participate in peer groups to troubleshoot the tracking process; the chance to present in future EPA webinars; and the ability to jumpstart or enhance participation in the EPA’s Food Recovery Challenge. Learn more about the opportunity to pilot the Reducing Wasted Food & Packaging Toolkit at http://go.usa.gov/MuGA.

 

Questions can be directed to Amanda Hong at hong.amanda@epa.gov. Thanks to Amanda for sharing information on these opportunities.

 

Posted on

MREA PV 320.03 Solar Training Academy Begins in Normal, January 2015

MREA Solar AcademyThe Midwest Renewable Energy Association (MREA) will be offering its PV 320.03 Solar Training Academy beginning January 17th, in Normal, IL.

 

The MREA Solar Training Academy is a series of weekend classes that will walk students through the photovoltaic (PV) design and installation process. The format of the Solar Training Academy will be MREA’s class progression that will include Basic Photovoltaics, PV Site Assessor, Intermediate PV, PV Design Lab and PV Sales and Finance. Classes will be held one weekend each month beginning in January and concluding in early May. Topics of this training will cover PV equipment selection, utility intertied and battery based systems, batteries, mechanical and electrical integration, PV design, PV residential site assessment, National Electric Code, system commissioning, solar financials. Participation in the Solar Training Academy will also include opportunities to meet with professionals in the solar industry.

 

Upon successful completion of the Solar Training Academy, students will qualify for:

  • Completion of 63 hours of classroom training for North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) PV Installation Professional and NABCEP PV Technical Sales Professional
  • Sit for the NABCEP Entry Level Exam
  • Sit for the MREA PV Site Assessor Exam (To sit for the MREA PV Site Assessor Exam, students will need to complete two practice site assessments outside of class.)

The course instructor is Alex Jarvis, of Solar Systems of Indiana.

Non MREA Member Price = $2,200.00; MREA Member Price = $2,000.00.

 

For complete information, and registration, visit https://www.midwestrenew.org/civicrm/event/info?id=728&reset=1.

 

For more information on training available through MREA, see https://www.midwestrenew.org/training.

Posted on

University of Washington Offers Online Green Chemistry Certificate Program

A new certificate program from the University of Washington will help chemists, environmental and sustainability professionals, health and safety professionals and product managers make informed product decisions that take into account sustainability, toxicity and human health concerns. The certificate in Green Chemistry & Chemical Stewardship will be offered through the Professional and Continuing Education program at the University of Washington.

 

There will be three online courses in the certificate, and individuals can sign up for a single course on a space available basis:

 

The online certificate program is intended to give professionals working in chemicals management experience using comparative chemical hazard assessment tools for product selection. The classes will be offered sequentially, beginning in January, 2015, and concluding in August, 2015. Students will complete a capstone project requiring them to evaluate a chemical or product within a sustainability framework.

 

To learn more about the certificate program, see http://www.pce.uw.edu/certificates/green-chemistry-chemical-stewardship.html.

 

To learn more about green chemistry, see the Green Chemistry Sector Resource on the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) web site.

 

For more sustainability and pollution prevention training opportunities, be sure to check the GLRPPR calendar.

 

Thanks to our colleague, Donna Walden, of the Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network (WSPPN) for sharing information about this training opportunity.

Posted on

FREE Sustainability Film Festival, April 22-24 at Spurlock Museum

With funding from the UI Office of Public Engagement, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) is hosting a Sustainability Film Festival next week on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Three documentaries will be screened at the Spurlock Museum‘s Knight Auditorium on the evenings of April 22, 23, and 24th from 6-7:30 PM: Living Downstream, Terra Blight, and Waste=Food, respectively.

 

Admission is FREE and open to the public on a first come, first served basis; doors open at 5:30 PM. After each film, a Q&A/discussion will be held with ISTC staff and other relevant campus and community experts. Panelists will answer questions about their organizations/programs, the issues dealt with in that evening’s film, and provide guidance for the audience on what they can do to prevent pollution, avoid exposure to and release of environmental toxins, and contribute to a cleaner environment in their own lives.

 

The Festival kicks off on Earth Day (April 22) with Living Downstream. Based on the acclaimed book by ecologist and cancer survivor Sandra Steingraber, Ph.D. This poetic film follows Sandra during one pivotal year as she travels across North America, working to break the silence about cancer and its environmental links. After a routine cancer screening, Sandra receives some worrying results and is thrust into a period of medical uncertainty. Thus, we begin two journeys with Sandra: her private struggles with cancer and her public quest to bring attention to the urgent human rights issue of cancer prevention. At once Sandra’s personal journey and her scientific exploration, Living Downstream is a powerful reminder of the intimate connection between the health of our bodies and the health of our air, land, and water.

On the evening of Wednesday, April 23, we’ll be screening Terra Blight. This 55-minute documentary explores America’s consumption of computers and the hazardous waste we create in pursuit of the latest technology. Terra Blight traces the life cycle of computers from creation to disposal and juxtaposes the disparate worlds that have computers as their center. From a 13-year-old Ghanaian who smashes obsolete monitors to salvage copper to a 3,000-person video game party in Texas, Terra Blight examines the unseen realities of one of the most ubiquitous toxic wastes on our planet. By the film’s end, the audience will never look at their computer the same way again.

 

 

Finally, on the evening of Thursday, April 24, we will show Waste=Food. In a world where more and more societies with high consumption rates generate excessive amounts of waste, traditional environmental notions of reducing or recycling waste products are no longer sufficient. The new theory of ecologically intelligent design, green design and building, argues that manufacturers’ products, when discarded, should either be completely recyclable in the Technosphere or become biodegradable food for the Biosphere. Waste = Food explores this revolutionary “cradle to cradle” (as opposed to “cradle to grave”) concept through interviews with its leading proponents, American architect William McDonough and German ecological chemist Michael Braungart, coauthors of Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things. Their ideas are increasingly being embraced by major corporations and governments worldwide, unleashing a new, ecologically-inspired industrial revolution.

 

 

DVDs of the documentaries will be available after the film series at the Prairie Research Institute Library. The DVDs will have online activities and resource lists associated with them to enhance the educational impact of the films.

 

For more information, contact Joy Scrogum. We hope to see you at the movies!

Posted on

Free Residential Electronics Recycling Collection Event, Champaign Co., 4/12/14

http___www.ccrpcChampaign County (IL) will be hosting a FREE residential electronics collection event on Saturday, April 12, 2014 from 8 a.m. to noon at Parkland College (parking lot M-4). Parkland College is located at 2400 W. Bradley in Champaign. See http://www.parkland.edu/about/maps.aspx for directions to Parkland, as well as a map of the parking lots.

 

Electronic items to be accepted include:

  • Televisions of any type*
  • Computers, laptops, monitors*
  • Home entertainment electronic items (VCRs, Betamax, DVD players, cassette players, Blue Ray players, 8‐track players, turntables, etc.)
  • Kitchen electronic items / kitchen appliances (blenders, food processors, toasters, microwaves, etc.)
  • Bathroom electronic items (curling irons, flat irons, night lights, electric razors, electric toothbrushes, clocks, blow dryers, etc.)
  • Office electronic equipment (printers, scanners, copiers, etc.)
  • Dehumidifiers

* no broken glass accepted!

 

Items which will NOT be accepted include:

  • Broken glass televisions / broken glass monitors
  • White goods: refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners
  • Stoves, washer/dryers, dishwashers
  • Treadmills
  • Fluorescent lighting, CFLs, ballast and other devices containing PCBs
  • Thermostats, fire detectors
  • Alkaline batteries, other than installed in equipment
  • Household hazardous waste
  • Medical waste
  • Gas powered equipment or lawn equipment

 

For more information on electronic devices which are BANNED from disposal in Illinois landfills, as well as a list of local businesses which accept electronics for recycling year-round (with devices accepted and any restrictions for each location), please see the Champaign County Electronics Recycling Guide. For questions related to the 4/12/14 electronics collection event, you may call 217-328-3313.

 

 

Posted on

Mark Your Calendars for Sustainability Film Festival April 22, 23, & 24

LDcropWith funding from the UI Office of Public Engagement, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) is hosting a Sustainability Film Festival during Earth Week on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

 

Three documentaries will be screened at the Spurlock Museum’s Knight Auditorium on the evenings of April 22, 23, and 24th from 6-7:30 PM: Living Downstream, Terra Blight, and Waste=Food, respectively. Mark your calendars–admittance will be free and open to the public on a first come, first served basis. Doors open at 5:30 PM. After each film, a Q&A/discussion will be held with ISTC staff and other relevant experts. Panelists are being confirmed and will be announced as the time of the screenings approaches.

 

The DVDS of the documentaries will be made available after the film series at the Prairie Research Institute Library for professors, students, and members of the general public to check out for use in classes, meetings, and for personal enrichment. The general public will have access to materials either from their local public library via inter-library loan through the University’s participation in the Illinois Heartland Library System, or directly from the Institute library if they have a UIUC Library courtesy card. The DVDs will have downloadable activities and resource lists associated with them to enhance the educational impact of the films.

 

A flyer for the film festival is available at http://istc.illinois.edu/docs/SustainabilityFilmFestFlyer.pdf. The Spurlock Museum is at 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana, IL 61801. The Institute Library is in the Forbes Building, at 1816 S. Oak St., Champaign, IL, 61820. Further information on each of the films is available at http://www.livingdownstream.com/, http://www.terrablight.com/, and http://www.icarusfilms.com/new2007/waste.html.  For more information on the series, contact Joy Scrogum at 217-333-8948 or jscrogum@illinois.edu.

 

TerraBlightWasteFood

Posted on

O’Brien Appointed Illinois Sustainable Technology Center Director

Kevin O’Brien, Ph.D., has been appointed Director of the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, effective Dec. 2, 2013. Most recently O’Brien served as president of Energy Commercialization, LLC, in the San Francisco Bay Area.

 

A technology expert and project manager with more than 20 years of experience, O’Brien has managed multi-million-dollar programs related to renewable and sustainable technologies and practices in the U.S. and abroad. His international project experience includes Europe, Middle East, and Asia. Among his professional awards are R&D Magazine’s R&D 100 award and a Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Technology Transfer.

 

He will lead an organization which for nearly 30 years has advocated and helped enable sustainable practices in industry and other organizations in Illinois. Effective strategies have included applied research, industry and government partnerships, technical assistance, technology demonstrations, and information dissemination.

 

O’Brien’s energy expertise encompasses both the supply side and demand side. He is experienced with projects involving both renewable energy as well as traditional fossil based fuels. His focus in renewables has been on the development of utility scale solar projects. As a project developer, he has brought together the necessary technical, regulatory, and financial considerations in order to move solar projects forward. He has also been involved with advisory services to the state of California and utility companies on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

 

O’Brien led multi-disciplinary teams at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in the development of technologies aimed at resolving critical environmental and public health issues such as the contamination of ground water, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, sustainable development of transportation systems, cost effective water purification for low economic underdeveloped regions, and the removal of endocrine disruptors from water sources.

 

O’Brien received his B.S. in Polymer Engineering, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Macromolecular Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.

 

“Dr. O’Brien’s record of effectiveness at bringing together diverse stakeholders for the development and deployment of renewable and sustainable technologies and practices is an excellent fit for ISTC,” said Institute Executive Director William W. Shilts. “His experience in senior management and as a technology innovator will provide leadership to meet the range of sustainable technology challenges our society faces.”

 

“ISTC is well positioned to be a leader in building collaborative networks between business, government and academia,” O’Brien said. “Today sustainable technology is a growing cultural force which we can move forward to maximize economic and environmental benefits.”

 

———

The Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois is the home of the State Scientific Surveys: Illinois Natural History Survey, Illinois State Archaeological Survey, Illinois State Geological Survey, Illinois State Water Survey, and Illinois Sustainable Technology Center. For over 160 years the Surveys have applied cutting-edge science and expertise to keep Illinois’ economy, environment and people prosperous and secure. www.prairie.illinois.edu

 

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) was established in 1985 and joined the Prairie Research Institute with the other surveys in 2008.  Its mission is to encourage and assist citizens, businesses, and government agencies to prevent pollution, conserve natural resources, and reduce waste to protect human health and the environment of Illinois and beyond.  www.istc.illinois.edu

Posted on

Registration Now Open for International Sustainable Electronics Competition

The Sustainable Electronics Initiative at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center is pleased to announce that registration is open for the 2013 International Sustainable Electronics Competition. Participants will explore ideas to address the social and environmental impacts of electronics, and contribute to the body of knowledge that advances the practice of environmentally responsible product design for current and future technology products. Entries can be made in one of two categories—“Product” and “Non-product”–with criteria that incorporate the ideas of reuse and prevention throughout. This allows for students of all disciplines to participate in ways to reduce the generation of electronic waste and extend electronic product life cycles.

 

Teamwork across disciplines, backgrounds, and ages is encouraged. One entry per person or team (5 person maximum) is allowed. The competition is open to current college and university students as well as recent graduates from universities around the world. Registration is FREE. Expert jurors award cash prizes to the top three projects in each category.

 

Entries must include an original video composition uploaded to YouTube, along with supporting materials uploaded to the registration page of the competition web site. See the competition web site, www.ewaste.illinois.edu for details on registration requirements.

 

 

Posted on

ISTC Co-Sponsors C-U Area Medicine Take-back Program

The C-U Area Medicine Take-back Program will give area residents the opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted or expired medications 24 hrs. a day, 7 days a week, via locked collection boxes in the lobbies of the Champaign, Urbana, and University of Illinois Police Departments. The program is a partnership between the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, Champaign Police Department, Urbana Police Department, University of Illinois Police Department, Champaign County sheriff’s office, the National Prescription Pill and Drug Disposal Program, the cities of Champaign and Urbana, Illinois American Water, the University of Illinois Student Sustainability Committee, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, Champaign County Regional Planning Commission, Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department, WCIA and the Prairie Rivers Network.

 

This is the first pharmaceutical take-back program in Champaign County to be able to collect controlled substances. Both prescription and over-the-counter medicines, as well as veterinary pharmaceuticals will be accepted. The goals of the program are to reduce accidental poisonings of children and pets, prevent drug diversion and abuse, and limit environmental impacts from storage or improper disposal of unwanted or expired medicines.

 

ISTC’s Elizabeth Luber will be on hand at the Champaign Police Department on May 24th from 4-6 p.m. for the kick off of the new collection program.

 

See the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant news release on the program, as well as the News-Gazette article, for more information.

Posted on

ISTC Seeks Web Applications Development Specialist

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC), a division of the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign is looking for a qualified individual to develop, maintain and evaluate Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) websites and database driven web applications with responsibility for training staff on the use of the applications through various modes of communication.

 

Salary for this position is $55,000 – $60,000 per year commensurate with experience and education. This is a regular, academic professional, full-time grant supported 12-month position renewable each academic year upon satisfactory progress within the position. The estimated starting date is May 16, 2013 (negotiable).

 

Please see https://jobs.illinois.edu/academic-job-board/job-details?jobID=29791&job=web-applications-development-specialist-division-of-illinois-sustainable-technology-center-a1300091 for the complete job description, required education and experience, and instructions for application. Applications must be received by March, 29, 2013.

 

For further information please contact Erica Hanson, Human Resources, Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, 217-333-6897. For technical questions, please contact: Nancy Holm, Search Committee Member.