Category: Events

Posted on

Andrew Revkin, ‘9 Billion People + 1 Earth =?’ Oct. 24 on UIUC Campus

The Prairie Research Institute, home to the State scientific surveys (including the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center), is pleased to announce the latest installment in its lecture series for Fall 2012. Andrew Revkin, Senior Fellow at Pace University and Dot Earth blogger for The New York Times will speak at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus, at 4 PM (Central) on Wednesday, October 24, 2012. The presentation is free and open to the public; a reception will follow. See http://www.prairie.illinois.edu/lecture/index.shtml for details, including a map to the location, and an event flier that you may download.

 

Revkin’s presentation is entitled “9 Billion People + 1 Earth = ?” After two centuries of explosive growth, the planet’s human population is widely seen as cresting within the next couple of generations. A mid-range best guess for the peak remains roughly 9 billion people. There are even signs that resource-sapping activities will hit a peak as well. Will we overheat or innovate, conserve or despoil, crash or round the curve with a few scrapes? Andrew Revkin will present an optimistic, but realistic, exploration of ways to share and shape ideas that can foster progress on a finite planet.

 

The Prairie Research Institute Lecture Series is supported by donors to the Naturally Illinois Expo and Lecture Series Fund. Questions may be directed to 217-333-5111.

Posted on

Science & Technology at the Market

This fall the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) at the University of Illinois will be presenting information about several of its research and outreach projects at Urbana’s Market at the Square. Topics include:
• September 22 – Waste Biomass Projects: Turning waste into energy. Come learn how ISTC researchers, Dr. Junhua Jiang (Senior Research Engineer), uses biochar – a black carbon-rich solid made from biomass – in supercapacitors. Dr. B.K. Sharma (Senior Research Engineer) and Joe Pickowitz (Environmental Engineer) will also present how they turn everyday household and restaurant waste into bio-oils/bio-lubricants and biodiesel.

• September 29 – PPCPs in the Environment: More and more we hear of various chemicals being found in our streams and rivers. ISTC researcher, Dr. Wei Zheng (Senior Research Chemist), will discuss his research on fate and transport Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products (PPCPs) in the environment.

• October 6 – Sustainable Electronics Initiative (SEI) and the Indoor Climate Research & Training: Have you ever wondered where your discarded electronics go or just how much electronic waste the US produces each year? Visit with Joy Scrogum (Emerging Technologies Resource Specialist) who can answer these questions and others about SEI, e-waste, and responsible recycling.
Your home is your sanctuary; a place where all the worries of the world go away. Learn with Bill Rose (Senior Research Architect) and the ICRT program about way to improve your sanctuary’s performance in the areas of indoor air quality, roofing materials and attic ventilation, freezing pipe conditions, thermal performance at wall-ceiling junctions, and more.

• October 20 – Mud to Parks: Have you ever seen abandoned industrial areas that are eye sores in communities? Come learn how ISTC’s John Marlin (Research Affiliate) helped to discover how river sediments can be used to turn old industrial sites into parks.

• October 27 – Water Use and Reuse: Ever wondered how your drinking water gets cleaned? Learn how a couple of ISTC researchers, Dr. Kishore Rajagopalan (Associate Director for Applied Research) and Eric Duitsman (Chemist), clean a variety of liquid wastes with reverse osmosis membrane technology.

• November 3 – Waste to Oil: Dr. B.K. Sharma is back to demonstrate how he turns those pesky plastic grocery bags and other discarded plastic items into oil.
For more information on ISTC and/or these topics, please visit www.istc.illinois.edu or contact Elizabeth Luber at 217-333-7403 or eluber2@illinois.edu or Nancy Holm at 217-244-3330 or naholm@illinois.edu.

Posted on

Celebrate National Pollution Prevention Week 2012

Today marks the first day of National Pollution Prevention Week. Pollution Prevention Week is annually the third week of September. Pollution Prevention Week is a time when businesses, environmental groups and citizens can join forces for a common cause. By sharing information about pollution prevention, businesses can become more competitive, businesses and government can realize cost savings, and environmental quality can be enhanced.P2 Week 2012 poster

The theme for Pollution Prevention Week 2012 is “Safer Chemicals for a Safer World,” which embodies a national effort for safer alternatives to chemicals of concern. This is to ensure the safety and health of workers and communities. Using safer chemical alternatives also provides companies with a marketing edge over their competitors.

For more information on P2 Week, see the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable web site at http://www.p2.org/p2-week/. See also the US Environmental Protection Agency P2 Week page, with tips on preventing pollution at work, home, on the road, and at school, as well as information on various P2 Week activities.

Read the text of the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 here.

For further assistance, see the Great Lakes Regional Pollution Prevention Roundtable (GLRPPR) web site (GLRPPR is a project of ISTC), or the ISTC Technical Assistance program page.

Posted on

Sustainable Electronics Seminar Series; Next Webinar Scheduled for Sept. 19

This fall, the ISTC Sustainability Seminars are focused on the Sustainable Electronics. The series kicked off on September 5th when Professor William Bullock and Joy Scrogum presented “Electronic Waste: Our Problem and What We Should Do About It.” See the Sustainable Electronics Initiative Blog post on that webinar, and check the ISTC web site for the archived version.

The next event, which will be hosted at ISTC headquarters in Champaign, IL and simultaneously broadcast online will be a presentation by Dr. Callie Babbitt of the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) on “Adapting Ecological Models for Linking Sustainable Production and Consumption Dynamic in Consumer Electronic Product Systems.” This webinar is scheduled for Wednesday, September 19 from noon to 1PM Central. Registration for the webinar is available at https://www4.gotomeeting.com/register/541176247. Those on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus are invited to come to ISTC to view the presentation. See the Sustainable Electronics Initiative Blog post on this webinar for further details.

The ISTC Sustainability Seminar series is a year-long series of seminars, usually one or two per month, presented by researchers, business professionals, and policy makers. It is an opportunity to share scientific research and discussion with peers in a relaxed, informal environment. Please feel free to bring a lunch to the local presentation.  Seminars usually last about an hour and questions are welcome. The seminars will be broadcast live and will also be videotaped and archived on the ISTC website, www.istc.illinois.edu. Continue reading “Sustainable Electronics Seminar Series; Next Webinar Scheduled for Sept. 19”

Posted on

Champaign County Residential Electronics Collection, Saturday, August 4

Champaign County will offer a residential electronics collection event from 8 a.m to noon on Saturday, August 4, 2012. The drop off location is the News-Gazette Distribution Center at 3202 Apollo Drive in Champaign, IL. Click here to view a map of the location, a list of acceptable electronic items being collected, and information on what becomes of the devices that you bring in for recycling.

Champaign County hosts approximately four of these events a year. If you are unable to go to the event this Saturday, another event will be held at the same location, 8 a.m. to noon on October 13, 2012.

Between collection events, check ISTC’s Sustainable Electronics Initiative (SEI) fact sheet on take back and donation programs for a variety of options on what to do with your unwanted gadgets. You can also always check Earth911.com to find recycling locations near you for a wide variety of items by entering your Zip code.

If you have any questions regarding the county collection events, call 217-328-3313.