Watch Bioneers Speakers This Weekend

Bioneers is a unique annual conference that brings some of the best minds in the environmental and sustainability movement together every year.  It takes place in California, so we don't expect everyone here in Chicago to make the trip!  However, the organizers do their best to let people all over the world take advantage of the excellent presentations at the conference.  We just got an email from Bioneers telling us about a few of the keynote presentations that will be available for viewing online live as they happen:

We know that not everyone could make it out to San Rafael or to one of our 19 Beaming Bioneers sites, so we've decided to do something unprecedented this year and bring part of the conference to you.

For the first time ever, we will be offering a live webcast for free of two of our keynote speakers on each day of the conference, this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. 

On Friday:
·      Sarah James will report from the Arctic on climate change and its impact on indigenous people.
·      Michael Pollan will speak on reforming our broken industrial food system and what it means to for our health.
This webcast will begin Friday, starting at 11:30 AM PST.

On Saturday:
·      Jason McLennan will talk about living buildings and the future of architecture.
·      Lily Yeh will recount her experiences with the Rwanda Healing Project. 
This webcast will begin this Saturday, starting at 9:00 AM PST.

On Sunday:
·      Jerome Ringo will address the reality of green jobs in our re-made economy.
·      Annie Leonard will help us find our way beyond the Age of Stuff.
 This webcast will begin this Sunday, starting at 11:30 AM PST.

In addition, on both Friday and Saturday at 4:30 PM PST, we will be webcasting a panel and workshop on sustainable social media, in partnership with InfluenceXchange.

To view these live streaming webcasts, just go to this web address:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bioneers-conference-09

These amazing presentations will be live, so don't miss it!

What do you think about Bioneers and the Beaming Bioneers conferences?  Let us know in the comments.

It's Bike to Campus Week!

We're in the middle of Bike to Campus Week! It's being sponsored by the Chicago Department of Transportation, Active Transportation Alliance, and universities in Chicago.

Feel free to download a larger PDF version of the events taking place at UIC.

UI Hospital Prairie Garden Blossoms

 

As summer turns to fall, the prairie garden planted last year blossoms. Some of the plants are three feet tall and looking good. Thanks to the Green Thumbs Taskforce organized by the Alumni Association, the plot is staying weed-free. Good news is we were the recipients of the plants used to "landscape" Park-ing day so those will be planted on campus soon.

Purple Spiderwort

PARK(ing) Day at UIC: Tomorrow 9/18!

View Park(ing) Day @ UIC in a larger map

On Friday, September 18th students from the Department of Urban Planning and Policy, the Urban and Public Affairs Undergraduate Program, the Urban Planning and Policy Student Association (UPPSA), and the Office of Sustainability have collaborated to transform two metered parking spots into miniature parks on the UIC Campus. Students and passersby are invited to use the parks located in Parking Lot 4 at the corner of Halsted Street and Polk Street to the east of Student Center East. Take time to play some bocce ball, toss some bags, challenge someone to a chess match, or just lounge in the landscaped setting. PARK(ing) Day was first conceived of by an art and design studio named Rebar out of San Francisco to invite civic participation in shaping our public space, and to question how we are using our public streets. In particular it intends to get people thinking about how much of our public landscape is dedicating to parking and automobile use. This is the inaugural year of PARK(ing) Day on campus, but it is a national and global event. In 2008 there were more than 500 Park installations in over 100 cities on 4 continents. At UIC, students came together to gather up needed materials and design two spaces. In addition, two landscaping firms, Countryside Industries and Midwest Groundcovers generously supplied plants and landscaping materials.

No UIC Equipment Accepted at Sept 18-19 Recycling Event

Sustainability Week ends with a free electronics household recycling event Sept 18-19, 1135 S. Halsted (Lot 6), 9AM - 2PM. You CANNOT recycle any UIC equipment at this event. For UIC faculty, students and staff, this is recycling event for personal, household electronics equipment.

What do you with UIC equipment? The Office of Business and Financial Services (OBFS), Property Control and Accounting, outlines the procedures for departments to dispose of or surplus the equipment: http://www.obfs.uillinois.edu/property/disposal.shtml.

But bring your old personal cell phones, VCRs, stereos, radios, cameras and other electronic equipment on Friday or Saturday and tell your friends, social, community, church and other organizations that you are involved with as well! For more information about what you can and cannot recycle at this event or to schedule your community group for a institutional drop-off, visit http://uic.poweron.com/.