Successful Projects

• A bicycle repair station encourages commuters to use bicycles, rather than cars. This results in a significant reduction in carbon dioxide emissions.
• The bicycle repair station is located at the south entrance to PAC
• View the the Bike Repair Station Project Proposal
• Thank you Scheels for your donation

• Replacing turf grass with native grasses, such as Buffalo Grass, reduces required maintenance.
  • Projects like this will result in saving water and reducing carbon emissions.
• See the Buffalo Grass in the circle drive by Parking Lot G.
• View the Buffalo Grass Project Proposal

• A garden has been built at the Cox Children’s Daycare.
• By teaching children about sustainability, they will hopefully grow into sustainability-minded adults.
• View the Children's Garden Project Proposal

• UIS offers parking for low-emissions vehicles and carpools. Check out a map of those designated parking spaces.
• Currently 23 LEV and carpool parking spaces are reserved for low-emissions vehicles and carpool parking.
• To see if your vehicle qualifies as low-emissions and is authorized to park in these LEV spaces, reference LEED-Qualified Cars
  • If your vehicle is on the list of low-emissions vehicles, then you can utilize these spaces.
• View the Green Parking Spaces Project Proposal

• Spiral herb gardens encourage people to grow their own herbs, rather than driving to the store to buy herbs from all around the world.
  • This results in carbon emissions being reduced in the transportation of herbs.
• Spiral herb beds create micro-climates ranging from dry to moist
  • This allows plants requiring different amounts of water to be grown together
• See the spiral herb bed in the UIS Community Garden
• View the Spiral Herb Bed Project Proposal

• 15 Water Bottle Refilling Stations have been implemented in PAC
• These stations will prevent the consumption of countless plastic bottles,
  significantly reducing the university’s plastic consumption

• Signs will be placed at sustainable landscaping projects around campus to explain how the plants and landscaping help to make UIS more sustainable.
• This project has been revived in the 23-24 project cycle in conjunction with the Pollinator's Paradise proposal. It will have the same goal as the original, which is to better educate people about sustainable projects on campus.
• View the current Sustainable Signage Project proposal.
• View the old Sustainable Signage Project proposal.

• By putting up more recycling bins in residential areas, students will be able to dispose of their home-generated waste in a more sustainable manner.
• There are small, personal bins for each dorm room, and there are larger recycling bins in each of the residential laundry rooms and common areas in the dorms.
• View the Residential Recycling Bins Project Proposal.

• A composter in the children’s garden will teach them about composting at an early age, encouraging them to develop into sustainability-minded people.
• The composter will also help the teachers to develop an understanding of composting and gardening techniques.
• View the Kids for Compost Project Proposal.

• Several water bottle refilling stations have been installed in both residence halls and the classroom side of Brookens.
• These stations will prevent the consumption of countless plastic bottles,
  significantly reducing the university’s plastic consumption
• View the Brookens Refilling Station Project Proposal and the Residence Hall Refilling Station Project Proposal

 

• A solar-powered charging station for phones and laptops has been placed at the Student Union on the South second floor Starbucks terrace.
• This station will reduce our reliance on non-renewable energy by providing students with access to solar-powered charging.
• Here are the specifications of the UIS Charging Station:
  • 10 W on-board solar panel
  • 2 5V 2.1A outlets, providing 480 watt-hours of power
• View the Solar Charging Station Project Proposal.

• Composting at the Student Union will significantly reduce our food waste by converting our food scraps into compost.
• We will be using 2 composting tumblers until we can upgrade to more comprehensive composting facilities.
• View the Composting Project Proposal.

• 1,000 reusable clam shells have been purchased, and will be passed out to students in Fall 2019.
• By giving students reusable clam shells, we are encouraging the students to save money and reduce the waste they produce when they take food home.
• View the Reusable Clam Shells Project Proposal.

• Heavy duty magnets have been placed on recycling dumpsters in the residential areas of the UIS campus.
• These magnets promote recycling by informing students what to place in the dumpster, and this helps to reduce the contamination of the recycling dumpsters.
• View the Recycling Dumpster Labelling Project Proposal.

• Originally proposed in 2018, this ever-evolving project aims to increase visibility of green projects on campus, and it provides campus community members with the opportunity to learn more about the sustainable projects.
• Currently, there are 7 projects with informational signs:
  • Matrix Gardens
  • Buffalo Grass
  • Union Composting
  • Cox Children’s Garden
  • UIS Community Garden
  • Union Solar Charging Station
  • Bioswale
• View the Sustainable Signs 2.0 Project Proposal

• This project provides a safe structure for native bees to build their habitat as they live on our campus and pollinate plants around UIS.
• There are five bee hotels located around campus, and they are made out of sustainably sourced bamboo.
• You can check out their locations here on the campus sustainability map.
• View the Bee Hotels Project Proposal. 

• This proposal added permanent, outdoor recycling bins to 8 different locations around the UIS quad area.
• These bins allow for proper disposal of recyclables, diverting them away from the trash stream and back into the consumer cycle.
• You can check out their locations here on the campus sustainability map.
• View the Outdoor Recycling Bins Project Proposal. 

Coming soon!

• A catchment system at the UIS Community Garden will allow us to water our plants and vegetables using captured rain water.
• This project increases sustainability in the following ways:
  • Saving water
  • Reducing erosion and flooding
• This structure at the garden alleviates much of the demand placed on piped water sources required for watering our plants.
• View the Rainwater Capture Project Proposal.

Completed Spring 2021!

• Adding a kayak rack to the UIS Field Station on Lake Springfield gives Campus Recreation a convenient place to store kayaks for student use.
• This rack will hold kayaks, allowing them to be stored properly right on site.
• Students can contact TRAC to rent kayaks and take them out for a nice adventure on Lake Springfield.
• Time spent outdoors increases student interest in the environment and makes them more likely to work toward a more sustainable future.
• View the Kayak Rack Project Proposal.

• This project aims to increase recycling awareness and inform the campus community about what to recycle.
• Acceptable and unacceptable items for recycling are clearly marked and labeled directly on bins, and this gives students, staff, and faculty the opportunity to properly recycle.
• This project has been extended with changes in the 23-24 project cycle, which will provide an updated graphic to better increase recycling awareness. The new labels will be put out during AY24-25.
• View the Recycling Label Redux Project Proposal.

• This project has been extended in the 21-22 and 22-23 project cycles.
• View the Recycling Bin Labels Project Proposal. Extended Recycling Bin Labels Project Proposal (21-22). Extended Recycling Bin Labels Project Proposal (22-23).

A list of DOs and DON'Ts for sustainable recycling. In particular: no food, bags, or trash.

• This project improves sustainability at UIS by increasing the presence of native trees on campus, while in turn helping to remove dead ones to allow for new growth.
• These new trees will not only aesthetically improve the look of our campus, but will also help provide habitat for native birds and animals and reduce our carbon footprint.
• View the Native Trees Project Proposal.

• The Green Fee Committee worked with Residence Life to revitalize the Go Green Go Home event which was cancelled during the pandemic.
• Go Green Go Home is an event that encourages students to donate objects they would have otherwise thrown away during move-out to charity.
• View the Go Green Go Home project proposal.

• This collaboration between the Green Fee Committee and the Women’s Center provides free menstrual cups to students.
• Menstrual cups are a reusable alternative to sanitary tissues and tampons. They last longer and help students save money in the long run.
• View the Menstrual Cup Initiative project proposal.

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• This project funds the placement of recycling bins across townhouses and apartments on campus.
• This promotes recycling by making it more accessible and easier for students to properly recycle in their home.
• View the UIS Townhouse & Apartment Recycling Bins proposal.

• This project funds reusable bags to be given away on campus to help reduce our dependence on single-use plastic bags.
• View Reusable Bags proposal.

• The Green Fee Committee will replace about 20 toilets in highly visible campus locations with new units with either a dual flush function, low-consumption tank, or both.
• This will help reduce water consumption across campus by ensuring toilets don’t use excessive amounts of water. The standard industrial toilet uses about 7 gallons per flush; low-flow toilets use about 1.6 gallons.
• View the Low Consumption Toilets proposal.

• Around fifty photocells were bought by the Green Fee Committee and placed on outside lighting fixtures across campus.
• The photocells will make the lights turn on and off in response to darkness (e.g., nightfall or a storm) instead of being on a timer. This will reduce energy usage and light pollution on campus. Electricity is our most expensive utility.
• View the UIS Photocells proposal.

Coming soon!

• The Prairie Bird Safety Steps project will buy small decals to place on certain windows across campus to decrease bird strikes. Wild birds that migrate through or reside on the UIS campus will be better protected.
• This promotes biodiversity and will help the UIS community learn more about how to stop bird strikes.
• View the Prairie Bird Safety Steps proposal.

• The UIS Green Fee Committee will provide funding for a bus for students to go across various thrift shops in Springfield for a day. It will also include a meal at a restaurant with a sustainable/local food focus. 
• The intent of the event is to bring together students who are interested in sustainability and show how accessible second-hand fashion can be.
• Will be implemented in AY24-25.
• View the Thrift Crawl proposal.

• A space for pollinator plants on the campus will be located and planted to benefit native pollinator species with more habitat.
• View the Pollinator Paradise proposal.

• Battery-powered flush toilets in the Student Union have issues working and end up needing to be replaced if they don’t function properly. The Union is meant to be sustainable, but lost water and batteries which can’t be recycled conflict with this goal.
• Switching to dual-flush toilets will allow more water to be saved and prevent battery waste.
• All the battery-flush toilets in the Student Union have been replaced with dual-flush handles.
• View the Student Union Dual-Flush Toilets proposal.

• The UIS Gallery will install new track lighting to replace the original, 20-year-old track currently in use at the gallery.
• The new track will be more sustainable by cutting out the use of halogen bulbs which require frequent replacement and are energy-intensive, installing a new track, and using LED lights at new angles with dimming capabilities. This also better benefits artists using the gallery space by providing better lighting.
• View the UIS Gallery Lighting proposal.

• Old lights on the central colonnade have been replaced with LEDs.
• View the Colonnade Lights proposal.

• With whatever excess funding is available from the 23-24 project cycle, older toilets in the Public Affairs Center will be fitted to dual flush in order to save on water more efficiently.
• View the Low Consumption Toilet proposal.