Illinois Sustainable Technology Center • Prairie Research Institute
The next Champaign County residential electronics collection event has been scheduled for October 14, 2017. The event will occur from 8 AM to noon at Parkland College. Registration is required for participation; online registration (at www.ecycle.simplybook.me) opens on September 5, 2017 at 8 AM.
Read more on the Sustainable Electronics Initiative (SEI) Blog.
On Tuesday, August 22, the Illini Gadget Garage will be hosting a screening of the documentary Death by Design at the Champaign Public Library. Doors will open at 6:30 PM and the film will begin at 7:00. The film duration is 73 minutes.
The Illini Gadget Garage is a repair center that helps consumers with “do-it-together” troubleshooting and repair of minor damage and performance issues of electronics and small appliances. The project promotes repair as a means to keep products in service and out of the waste stream. The Illini Gadget Garage is coordinated by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center.
Death by Design explores the environmental and human costs of electronics, particularly considering their impacts in the design and manufacture stages, bearing in mind that many electronic devices are not built to be durable products that we use for many years. Cell phones, for example, are items that consumers change frequently, sometimes using for less than 2 years before replacing with a new model. When we analyze the effort put into, and potential negative impacts of, obtaining materials for devices through efforts like mining, the exposure to potentially harmful substances endured by laborers in manufacturing plants, and the environmental degradation and human health risks associated with informal electronics recycling practices in various parts of the word, the idea that we might see these pieces of technology as “disposable” in any way becomes particularly poignant. For more information on the film, including reviews, see http://deathbydesignfilm.com/about/ and
http://bullfrogfilms.com/catalog/dbd.html. You can also check out the trailer at the end of this post.
After the film, there will be a brief discussion and Q&A session facilitated by Joy Scrogum, Sustainability Specialist from the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) and project coordinator for the Illini Gadget Garage. UI Industrial Design Professor William Bullock will also participate in the panel discussion; other panelists will be announced as they are confirmed. Professor Bullock is also an adviser for the Illini Gadget Garage project; see more about IGG advisers at http://wp.istc.illinois.edu/ilgadgetgarage/meet-the-advisers/. Check the IGG web site calendar and Facebook page for room details and panelist announcements.
Admission to this public screening is FREE, but donations are suggested and appreciated to support future outreach and educational efforts of the Illini Gadget Garage. See http://wp.istc.illinois.edu/ilgadgetgarage/donate/donation-form/ to make an online donation and http://wp.istc.illinois.edu/ilgadgetgarage/ for more information on the project.
Bullfrog Films presents…DEATH BY DESIGN from Bullfrog Films on Vimeo.
A valuable bumble bee colony was rescued from the loading dock at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) last week and is now is a colony-in-residence at the entomology lab at Illinois State University (ISU) in Bloomington.
John Marlin, research affiliate at ISTC and also an entomologist, spotted the bees making its home in an abandoned robin’s nest on the center’s loading dock. Marlin wondered if they were Bombus pensylvanicus, a once abundant Illinois species that has suffered a rapid decline in recent years.
Marlin contacted Sydney Cameron, the U of I’s authority on bumble bees about the find. Cameron was traveling so she referred Marlin to Ben Sadd, assistant professor of infectious disease ecology at ISU. The loading dock was soon to be very busy with ISTC deliveries. Additionally the bees were stressed by the 90+ degree weather and as many as seven adult bees were fanning the nest with their wings during the day to cool it. Sadd packed up the nest and moved it back to the cool Bloomington lab.
Sadd identified the bees as Bombus auricomus, not as rare, but still of considerable interest. Inside the nest was revealed seven workers a queen tending to healthy brood cells and nectar pots. The brood was in good condition so he said the colony could continue producing. It is the only B. auricomis nest in the facility.
Bumble bee populations are declining all over the country as suitable prairie, grassland, and other habitats disappear in both rural and urban areas, Marlin pointed out. Homeowners can help bees by including native flowering plants in gardens and only using soil insecticides when necessary, he added.
The plight of many bee species (there are over 300 in Illinois alone) has drawn national attention, including efforts to list some as endangered. The Trump administration halted the protection of Bombus affinis under the Endangered Species Act in January. Congress is debating changes to the act this summer.
The Illini Gadget Garage (IGG) is a collaborative repair center on the UIUC campus to assist students, staff and faculty with troubleshooting and repair of minor damage and performance issues for their personally owned electronic devices and small appliances. The project is coordinated by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center (ISTC) Technical Assistance Program as a waste reduction outreach project of the Sustainable Electronics Initiative (SEI).
Summer hours
The IGG has announced hours for Summer 2017. “Pop-up” repair clinics will be held at the Undergraduate Library Media Commons on Mondays and Wednesdays from 11:30 AM to 2:30 PM. Open hours will be held at the IGG’s physical workshop (INHS Storage Building #3) on South Oak Street on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 AM to 2 PM and on Fridays from noon to 4 PM. A map is available for directions to the physical location: http://tinyurl.com/guv4n9z. Note that hours are subject to change, as staff are working to schedule more pop-up clinics in order to bring services to a wider audience, so check the project web site or Facebook page for announcements.
Bring a pop-up repair clinic to your facility
Related to that spirit of expansion, the IGG is now offering off-campus pop-ups for companies and organizations that would like to bring “do-it-together” repair to their site as way to engage employees and patrons in product stewardship and sustainability. Staff will come to your location with the necessary tools, and they can arrange to have your audience fill out a diagnostic form in advance so they can research information on the devices and issues being faced ahead of time, making one-on-one interactions during the event more productive. Off-campus pop-ups are 2-4 hours long to allow sufficient time for troubleshooting, repairs, and any additional research. Note that IGG does not sell parts, but if it is determined that a part is needed, staff can assist individuals in determining the exact models of required parts and in researching ways to obtain the part. Staff can also help individuals identify local repair businesses that could help them address more complex damage or businesses that can accept items for proper recycling if they are beyond repair. IGG can help identify local businesses and/or online vendors for informational purposes only; the IGG does not endorse any external business and the ultimate decision of how/where to obtain parts or services is that of the consumer.
A pop-up repair clinic can provide a unique benefit to your staff, and be part of your organization’s sustainability efforts, by creating conversations around the impacts of product manufacture, design, and end-of-life management. Such events also provide empowerment and team building opportunities. If you have questions or are interested in scheduling a clinic at your facility, please contact Joy Scrogum, ISTC Sustainability Specialist, for more information and pricing. Fees are charged to host organization of a pop-up clinic to support staff members time both at the event and for preparation; however individuals that attend your event (e.g. employees and/or patrons) are not themselves charged for the assistance they receive. Off-campus pop-up clinics are not restricted to the Champaign-Urbana metropolitan area, but please be aware that additional fees may apply for travel.
Support IGG outreach in your community or on the UIUC campus
Companies and corporations interested in sponsoring a pop-up repair clinic in their community or at a particular public space are encouraged to contact Joy Scrogum to discuss possibilities and to receive instructions for contributions to the appropriate UI Foundation fund. Additionally, any individual or company interested in supporting IGG’s efforts to provide product stewardship and waste reduction guidance to the UIUC community at no cost to students, faculty and staff may make online donations via the UI Foundation to the “SEI Various Donors Fund,” which supports the educational efforts of the Sustainable Electronics Initiative. You may indicate “Support the Illini Gadget Garage” in the “Special Instructions” section of the online donation form. We thank you and the project’s current sponsors for your support!
International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW), falling on May 7-13 this year, is celebrated during the first full week in May annually. The event began in Canada in 1995 and has since grown as more and more organizations and individuals become aware of food waste issues and recognize the value of composting as a waste reduction strategy with multiple environmental benefits. The theme for this year’s celebration is “Compost! Healthy Soil, Healthy Food.” Learn more at http://compostfoundation.org/icaw.
IL Economic Impact and Market Study
Composting food scraps also has economic benefits as illustrated in a recent report produced by Skumatz Economic Research Associates (SERA). Building on the 2015 Food Scrap Composting Challenges and Solutions in Illinois report produced by recent collaboration with the Illinois Food Scrap Coalition (IFSC), Seven Generations Ahead (SGA) contracted SERA to identify the problems associated with landfilling organics, food scraps in particular, and recommend solutions emphasizing the development of the Illinois sustainable food industry. The goals of the project were to examine the influence of expanded food scraps recovery and composting programs on improving the viability of commercial composting ventures in Illinois, drive Illinois-based food production, and enhance the local food economy in Illinois, including jobs and revenues.
Analyses in this report indicate that the three targeted organic materials – food scraps, compostable yard waste (not including woody materials), and compostable paper– represent significant recoverable resources. Diverting these target materials would reduce 22% of tons disposed, and 16% of the MTCO2e available from all the non-recovered recyclables and organics disposed annually in Illinois. Using estimates of future prices of carbon dioxide, the value of the carbon dioxide represented by the target food scraps is $54 million – $89 million annually (2020 prices). SERA found that if IL can achieve a 65% organics diversion goal, the state will realize 3,185 jobs paying an average salary of $50k annually, $290 million annually in economic output, $10.5 million annually in local and state tax revenue, over 2 million tons of material diverted from landfill annually, and over 800k MTCO2e in GHG emissions reduction annually. This all makes composting of organics seem like a sound environmental and economic investment.
The report recommends a multiyear implementation plan for statewide diversion programs, citing Vermont’s Universal Recycling Law (Act 148) as an example. Recommended steps include: setting a statewide goal for organics diversion; adding food wastes to the existing yard waste landfill ban; adding tip fee surcharges for landfilled organics; introducing commerical and residential a Pay-As-You-throw (PAYT); promotion of urban gardens and backyard composting; grant programs to assist businesses and communities with food scrap composting; organics diversion requirements for sectors generating the most material; measurement strategies; and clarification for food donation regulations and encouragement of food recovery.
To download the full report, Economic Impact and Market Study Report: Elements of the Case for Advancing Food Scrap Composting Industry and the Link to Building Illinois’ Local Food Economy, go to http://illinoiscomposts.org/images/pdfs/Economic-Impact-Report.pdf.
Village of Lake Bluff and City of Highwood (IL) Offer Year-Round Food Scrap Programs
Meanwhile, as part of their celebration of ICAW, leaders from the Village of Lake Bluff, the City of Highwood, the Solid Waste Agency of Lake County (SWALCO), and recycling businesses held a press conference May 10th to discuss year-round curbside collection of food scraps and yard waste for residents in those municipalities. They are the latest in a small number of IL communities offering similar services. Starting this month, Highwood is requiring residents to separate food scraps from other waste to keep these materials out of landfill. For more information, read the media advisory on the press conference, coverage in the Chicago Tribune on 5/1/17 and 5/10/17, and a document from SWALCO outlining Lake County’s food scrap composting options.
Approval for Composting Facility near Des Plaines, IL Moves Forward
Elsewhere on May 10, Patriot Acres, a proposed composting facility outside of Des Plaines, received approval from the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The facility has faced opposition from some residents who are concerned about odors among other issues. Patriot Acres has agreed to offer a complaint line, operate within set hours, and abide by a list of environmental requirements. Approval from Cook County allows Patriot Acres to move forward with requests for approval from the IL Environmental Protection Agency and the Metropolitan Reclamation District of Greater Chicago. To read more about the proposed facility and the debate surrounding it, see the 5/12/17 edition of WasteDive.
IL Resident Wins ICAW Poster Contest
Incidentally, as part of each year’s ICAW celebration, there is a contest for poster designs reflecting the year’s theme. This year’s winner is Ursula Gutowski a graphic designer from Niles, IL. You can read more about Ursula and her inspiration at http://compostfoundation.org/ICAW-Poster-Contest. To order a copy, visit the ICAW online store. More information about the 2018 poster contest will be available soon on the Composting Council’s Research and Education Foundation web site.
Food service company Compass Group, along with food manufacturer Unilever, and celebrity chef Tom Colicchio, are promoting this Friday, April 28, 2017 as “Stop Food Waste Day.” The mission of the effort is, according to the Stop Food Waste Day web site, “to educate and ignite change regarding the food waste epidemic that we are currently facing. Our goal is to draw attention to the problem as well as create and share creative and impactful solutions. An educated consumer can have tremendous influence on how we store, farm, produce and buy our food.”
Compass Group chefs will be providing cooking demonstrations around the US on the day. On the event web site, the collaborative has compiled facts, food waste prevention tips, and recipes using ingredients that might otherwise be discarded, such as a gratin using cauliflower and broccoli stems, and a dish using chimichurri made from carrot tops.
The effort this year may well be lost in the sea of information that has emerged recently focused on food waste issues, and since April 28 is Arbor Day, it’s likely that more attention will be focused on planting trees that day than considering ways to stem the tide of food waste. Still, the web site, which provides several links to the joint NRDC and Ad Council site Savethefood.com, will provide one more source of inspiration and ideas to interested consumers beyond the day itself.
For more information see https://www.stopfoodwasteday.com/ and http://www.waste360.com/food-waste/compass-group-unilever-announce-food-waste-reduction-effort.
If you’re a parent of young children like me, your house may at times resemble a toy warehouse. If you’re also keen to reuse or recycle whenever you can, the collections of old action figures, peculiar fast food kids’ meal giveaway items, or outgrown stuffed animals that linger in your yard sale “FREE” box can be a bit depressing. Some things can be difficult to donate or consign, even when they’re in good condition, and broken toys aren’t typically on the “accepted for recycling” lists of waste haulers.
But happy Earth Month to you! Tom’s of Maine and TerraCycle have teamed up to keep those unwanted toys out of landfill for a limited time only. Through April 30, you can print out a free shipping label to mail up to 10 pounds of unwanted toys to TerraCycle for recycling. See http://www.tomsofmaine.com/lesswaste/#recycle for details and to print your own label.
While the promotion page doesn’t specify what will become of your castoffs, one can assume they will be treated just as materials accepted through TerraCycle’s Toy Zero Waste Box program–which is NOT free and available year round. That program’s site says “The collected waste is mechanically and/or manually separated into fabrics, metals, fibers, and plastics. Fabrics are reused, upcycled or recycled as appropriate. Metals are melted so they may be recycled. The fibers (such as paper or wood based products) are recycled or composted. The plastics undergo extrusion and pelletization to be molded into new recycled plastic products.” If you’re wondering whether they really do want your child’s old water gun, check out their list of accepted materials on that program’s page as well.
If you have only a few items to dispose of, and they’re in good working order, remember that reuse should always be explored before recycling, to make the most of the human and natural resources already invested in a product’s manufacture. Members of the Champaign-Urbana community can check out the non-comprehensive list of local organizations and businesses which accept items for reuse or resale beginning on page 2 of our fact sheet “Reducing & Recycling Waste: University of IL & Champaign-Urbana” for ideas.
A report prepared by researchers from the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the UK non-profit waste reduction organization WRAP, called The Business Case for Reducing Food Loss and Waste, was released last month by Champions 12.3. Champions 12.3 is “a coalition of executives from governments, businesses, international organizations, research institutions, farmer groups, and civil society dedicated to inspiring ambition, mobilizing action, and accelerating progress toward achieving SDG Target 12.3 by 2030.”
If you’re unfamiliar, “SDGs” are the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, a group of 17 goals and associated targets outlined in Transforming our world: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, aka United Nations Resolution A/RES/70/1 adopted 9/15/15. The goals went into effect in 2016, and build upon the UN’s Millenium Development Goals (MDGs). They call on all nations to end poverty in all forms by promoting individual well-being while also protecting our shared environment. The goals aren’t legally binding, but nations are expected to devise implementation frameworks and regularly report on their progress toward the goals. Goal number 12 specifically deals with “Responsible Consumption & Production,” and Target 12.3 states “By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains, including post-harvest losses.” Hence the name of Champions 12.3–this group is focused on halving per capita global food waste by 2030.
In preparing The Business Case report, WRI and WRAP reviewed 1,200 business sites across 700 companies representing a range of sectors in 17 countries. They also looked at data from 2007-2012 for the United Kingdom specifically, and at 2012 data for West London. Thus, they considered “financial impacts of historical food loss and waste reduction efforts conducted by a country, a city, and numerous companies.” Their results revealed “the financial benefits of taking action often significantly outweighed the costs.” From the report:
Moreover, their interviews with more than two dozen government and business leaders indicate that there are a number of strategic yet non-financial motivators for reducing food loss and waste, including food security, waste regulations, environmental sustainability, stakeholder relationships, and ethical responsibility.
In light of these results, Champions 12.3 encourages governments and companies to “target, measure, and act” to realize the business case for themselves by:
Is your organization ready to “target, measure, and act” to fight food waste and realize substantial returns on your waste reduction investments? If you need assistance with assessing your waste generation (food or otherwise) and identifying and implementing reduction opportunities, contact the ISTC Technical Assistance Program’s Zero Waste unit.
After two years a project to invigorate 22 acres near Windsor and Lincoln at the U of I is bringing the plot closer to its “natural” state.
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his high profile territory had become a thicket of brambles, invasive species, and dead plants. “I became disgusted,” said John Marlin, a research associate at Illinois Sustainable Technology Center who leads the project. “I drive by it every day on the way home. The honeysuckle was so thick that it was difficult to see more than five feet into the woods. The understory was shaded to the point that virtually nothing grew at ground level.”
Marlin will serve as keynote speaker during Campus Appreciation Day at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 11 in Room 1092 Lincoln Hall. Tuesday is Day Two of the University’s I Love Illinois Week. #ILoveIllinois. Marlin has attracted the interest of student volunteers for decades for sustainability projects across campus, including efforts to establish native plantings on campus to benefit indigenous animal species.
Funded by the Student Sustainability Committee, the 22-acre clean-up has attracted student volunteers from Red Bison, Students for Environmental Concerns, various other service organizations, East Central Illinois Master Naturalists, and members of the community. The property, now known as the South Arboretum Woods has been placed under the control of the Arboretum which will have long-term management responsibility.
Colleagues at the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, the Illinois Natural History Survey, and Facilities and Services have also been key partners by consulting on maintenance issues at the site, Marlin said. Since 2015 groups have assembled to remove invasive species and clear debris to allow a comeback for native plants, insects and other organisms. Some areas have already been seeded with woodland and prairie plants.
All of that effort has put the project right on schedule with the wholesale removal of noxious plants to prepare the way for new plantings this spring, Marlin said. The tenacious villain honeysuckle blocks sunlight and kills native flowering plants (forbs) and bushes that normally occur in healthy woodlands. With the woody pest in retreat, the emphasis is now on preventing honeysuckle re-sprouts and dealing with smaller invasives like garlic mustard. Seeds of this plant have been dormant in the soil for years and are germinating in response to sunlight which can now reach the floor of the woods. Over the next few years a variety of trees, shrubs and forbs will be gradually introduced to sections of the woods.
The plan is to gradually introduce plants to the area as resources become available and problem plants are removed. This includes thinning the stands of trees found in the former research plot. They were planted close together in species plots to facilitate the study on plant diseases and insect pests. Decades later trees 18 inches in diameter are a mere five feet apart. Removing some of them will allow sunlight penetration and more normal growth. The initial planting will mainly occur on the east side of the woods where work began in 2015.
The planned plantings will run the gamut from sun loving to shade tolerant and will be selected to collectively bloom over the entire growing season with a variety of flower types. This will serve a large number of insects, many of which, like the monarch butterfly, require or prefer a limited number of plants. For example a leaf cutter bee (genus Megachile) was found in large numbers last fall on bellflower (Campanula americana) on the shady edge of the woods.
On the list for planting at the woods are Spring Beauty (Claytornia virginica), a wildflower Marlin said is used by 58 different kinds of bees. Others being planned include Purple Prairie Clover, Rattle Snake Master, Wild Geranium, Golden Rod and Aster, he added.
Mariln said he and Kevin McSweeney, director of the Arboretum, and Jay Hayak, extension specialist in forestry, have discussed the usefulness of the woods for teaching issues such as restoring biological diversity.
The area is not yet ready for public use and help in removing material from the area should only be done under supervision, Marlin said. Logs and other woody material will be left on the site to meet specific habitats requirements.
Expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam, designated by the #6 resin code and commonly referred to by a brand name “Styrofoam” (much the same way facial tissues and bandages have become synonymous with one brand), is one of those materials that gives consumers who like to recycle fits. Many recycling programs don’t accept it. That’s not because it can’t be recycled; it’s that collecting and transporting the lightweight foam for recycling typically doesn’t make economic sense. You’re talking about shipping something that contains a lot of air when you need to consider fuel and other transportation related costs. It’s only when EPS foam is “densified”–processed to remove the air and reduce the foam’s volume, typically through crushing and compacting–that it becomes a commodity that is economically viable to transport.
Those of us who work or study on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus are fortunate to be able to recycle EPS packaging materials thanks to the campus Styrecycle program. Our campus partnered with the local recycler, Community Resource Incorporated (CRI), to purchase a densifier to transform all the foam coolers from labs and packing peanuts and cushioning from shipments received by departments into dense blocks to be sent off for use in new products. ISTC is one of the collection points for this program.
Hooray for having some of the EPS in our community diverted from the landfill! But, what about foam from non-university, residential sources? What about foam cups and other food packaging, which are not accepted even as part of Styrecycle on campus, but widely used by restaurants and retailers throughout the area?
Thankfully, Dart Container Corporation, which has a plant in Urbana, operates foam recycling programs throughout the US, and has recently added the Urbana location to its list of drop-off centers. Read the full announcement about the Urbana drop-off (along with new drop-offs in OK and ID) at https://www.dartcontainer.com/media/4099/final_new-drop-off-release_tradepubs.pdf. The Urbana drop-off, at 1505 East Main Street, is publicly accessible 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and accepts “a wide variety of recyclable foam including foam cups, foam egg cartons, foam meat trays, foam ice chests, and foam packaging which is frequently used to protect fragile materials like TVs during shipping.” The foam can be recycled into products like “picture frames, baseboards, and crown molding.” Interested residents should collect their foam in clear or translucent bags, rinse or wipe foodservice containers to remove food or drink residue, and be sure to remove contaminants like straws, tape, or other non-foam materials.
Note that Dart does NOT accept foam packaging peanuts. The campus Styrecycle program does accept them from campus sources, but cautions that individuals be sure to distinguish those from cornstarch-based peanuts, which dissolve in water and are NOT accepted through Styrecycle. Residents of the Champaign-Urbana area that wish to recycle those can take them to the UPS stores in town or Mail & Parcel Plus (see Urbana’s “Where Do I Recycle It?” guide for addresses). Of course, you can always save some of them for reuse in packages you plan to send as well.
There are Dart foam recycling drop-offs in Chicago and suburbs as well, for UI staff and students based at UIC or those who return to the Chicago area during intersessions. Type in a location at https://www.dartcontainer.com/environment/ps-foam-recycling/ to find the nearest option.