Meeting 4-16-14

We met today at our usual time. 12pm in the library. Everyone was in attendance and we met for about a half hour. We decided to meet at 10am in the library tomorrow since we don't have class. We discussed a few things about our final solution that will be developed more fully tomorrow. See everyone in the morning!

Meeting 4-9-14

We met on Wednesday, April 9 at noon in the library. All group members were in attendance. This group meeting gave us a lot of direction and I feel like it was a solid meeting.

Rachelle came with a really cool website she found. It was the one mentioned on the blog already that contains free printable signs that use pictures to help people recycle. Angie took more pictures of the recycling problem as evidence. David was very helpful is describing why we should focus our project a little more as it was beginning to be too broad. Anne had good insight as to how we can focus the project more and pros and cons for each option we could choose from. Chelsea had found a sustainability report card for UWRF that shows that Sodexo already has a program to reduce the amount of paper cups being used for coffee. We discussed this fully.

In order to clarify if the reusable mug program actually exists, (it said that if you bring your own mug, you get a medium or large drink for the price of a small) our group together wrote a list of questions to send to Michael Vanslow asking about the program. The questions included were: 

1. Do they offer med. or large drinks for price of small with reusable mug as mentioned in following link? http://www.greenreportcard.org/report-card-2011/schools/university-of-wisconsin-river-falls/surveys/dining-survey
2. If this is the case, where is it offered? (C-store, retail dining, Peregrine Perks)
3. Do the employees know to offer this to students? Do they know how to ring it up?
4. Has it been advertised in the past or is it advertised now?
5. If it is not currently offered, are you open to offering this option or something similar?
6. Can Michael Vanselow help with this or is there someone else we need to contact?

Angie sent the email to him. Thank you for doing that Angie! We heard back very quickly and it does exist. Knowing that now, we are thinking of having our solution be advertising that this program exists and the result of that would hopefully be having more students use their reusable mugs and therefore eliminating more waste. 

We are meeting again next Wednesday. Same place, same time. 

Hello Coffee Club.

I am attaching a link --  http://www.recycleminnesota.org/resources-6/free-signs-a-images -- that has free printable signs to more clearly define recycling. I think it could be useful, and the key word here was "free". I had little luck with finding recycling centers like those I had photographed at the Minneapolis Convention Center, however the signs would alleviate any need to purchase new recycling centers. The blue recycling wastebaskets (Rubbermaid) are available several places and run about $13 retail. See you on Tuesday.

Group Meeting 4/2

We met on Wednesday, April 2 at noon in the Library. We did not get a group room. Instead we sat at a table on first floor...we're getting crazy changing things up! :) Everyone was in attendance. We went through the class feedback and individually talked about each thought and idea. The ones we really want to take into consideration and clarify are:

Make the idea of recycling inviting rather than demanding

Use signs by containers that show what can be recycled and what can't

What is the cost comparison between trash removal to landfills and recycling?

What if people get an iced coffee or smoothie that is in a plastic cup? (We want to clarify that our idea only applies to the hot coffee. We would like to help this too but ultimately we think it's too big of a project to do both.)

Do the people who empty the garbage actually recycle? (We want to research this to make certain this is the case.)

Does the school have to pay extra to recycle?

How much would it cost for signage around campus?

Marketing and signage are huge -- posters and banners that are eye catching.  I feel the banner they have outside the C-store is boring, who stops and reads it?

Is your goal to increase all recycling or just coffee cups?

For next week: Rachelle is going to look into the pricing of separated containers for recycling. The kinds with pictures. She is also going to research what an add-on picture label would cost.  Anne is going to make an example of what the separation signs could look like...pictures and all! David is going to contact the landfill for more information. Angie is going to take more pictures of coffee cups in trash cans. Chelsea is going to contact facilities to see if they are the ones that deal with trash on campus and try and get information from them. 

Feedback

The feedback, suggestions, and questions are all great and should be helpful to our project.

Group Meeting #5

We met on Wednesday, March 26 at noon and our meeting went until 1:30pm. Everyone was in attendance. The main focus of the meeting was writing the group interim report together. Rachelle typed and everyone contributed thoughts and ideas according to the guidelines of the assignment. We got the main content of the paper written and Rachelle took it home to make edits and she added a few things that popped into her mind. Rachelle then emailed the paper to everyone that same afternoon and it is Anne, David, Angie, and Chelsea's job to read through it, make changes, and send it back to Rachelle so she can make the edits on the original copy. The paper is sounding great, thank you for every one's hard work on it!

We will meet again on Wednesday, April 2nd at noon in the library.

Class Feedback:

• Put words or images directly on the cups indicating what can be recycled, make it more obvious
• Make the idea of recycling inviting rather than demanding
• Use signs by containers that show what can be recycled and what can't
• What is the cost comparison between trash removal to landfills and recycling?
• Get emotions/ethics involved, show where the garbage goes in pictures
• Is there any consideration of expanding education about being green and being sustainable
• How will you get this message across to this campus?
• What if people get an iced coffee or smoothie that is in a plastic cup?
• Do the people who empty the garbage actually recycle?
• Does the school have to pay extra to recycle?
• Is the main goal to get more "separated" garbages?
• Are you planning on replacing these cups, how?
• How successful have current policies been compared to the latter?
• Can this issue be solved without involving higher authority?
• I didn't realize recycling was a problem on campus
• How much would it cost for signage around campus?
• Marketing and signage are huge -- posters and banners that are eye catching.  I feel the banner they have outside the C-store is boring, who stops and reads it?  Coffee club is a great idea!!
• Do you know of other schools, organizations that are doing this type of recycling?  What is their procedure?
• Can there be a recycling bin by every garbage can?
• I really liked that you took pictures and got evidence, the mug club is a really good idea!
• Is your goal to increase all recycling or just coffee cups?
• Reducing costs by bringing your own mug is a good idea.

Maintenance 3/24/14

Welcome back everyone! I hope everyone had an enjoyable Spring Break!

A quick post to review what happened the week before Spring Break and set us off running again for the rest of the semester...

We met during class for a half hour on Tuesday, March 11 and then met again on Wednesday, March 12 at 12pm in a group study room in the library. Everyone was in attendance. It was a very productive meeting and we worked until approximately 1:45pm.

We presented our information to the class on Thursday, March 13. Personally, I feel the presentation went well and am looking forward to the rest of the semester working on the project.

I'm sure we will connect in class tomorrow and will meet again on Wednesday, March 26 at noon in the library.

Group Meeting #4

We met at 12pm on March 5 in a group meeting room in the library. Everyone was in attendance. It was a good maintenance meeting.

1. Angie got information on how much Sodexo spends on paper products each year. Per year, they spend $2500 on paper products for Peregrine Perks alone. They spend an additional $1500 on paper products for coffee in the C-Store. 
2. Chelsea is trying to chase down the number of hot drinks they sell in the C-Store on an average weekday. If she can't find it, she might try Angie's helpful resource. Mike Vanslo is who Angie contacted.
3. Angie and Chelsea have pictures of empty coffee cups in the garbages around campus.
4. We discussed our short presentation. Anne will be putting together the power point. 

• Explanation of the problem: People receive these cups and they do not break them down to recycle parts of them so the whole paper cup and the lid and the hand warmer part all end up in the garbage when parts could be recycled. They take up landfill space. 
• Why it's a concern: There is not an unlimited amount of landfill space and these cups are occupying part of it when it could be prevented. The society should be worried about the environmental cost.

Angie is going to try and get the breakdown of how much Sodexo is spending on the individual pieces of the cup. (lid, cup, hand warmer part). David is going to find out where the nearest landfill is. Chelsea is going to find out more information on coffee in the C-store. Rachelle is going to help Anne with the power point. Angie and Chelsea are going send Anne the pictures. All of this should be done for our next meeting on March 12 at noon in the library, with the exception of the power point of course. :)

Group Meeting #3

I apologize for the delay. These minutes are long overdue…

The meeting was on Wednesday, February 26th at 12pm. The meeting took place at a table on the first floor of the library. Rachelle, Angie, Anne, and Chelsea were in attendance at noon and David joined us later after trying to give blood. Thank you for trying to donate David, it's a large heart you have! :)

We had sweedish fish at the meeting…thank you Rachelle!

At the meeting we…

1. Identified the problem further.
• A large amount of landfill space is being taken up by hot drink cups and all their parts. The cup itself, the lid, and sleeves are all often thrown away. Rachelle found out that Peregrine Perks goes through 250-300 hot drink cups a day. 1/3 of this number is just coffee itself. 
• People don't break down their cups and throw the lid in the plastic recycle, the sleeve in the paper recycle, and the cup in the trash. 
• The cost of buying the cups and additional items has to be high. 
2. Discussed specifics on how to solve the problem.
• Use the medium cup size as the average.
• Find the cubic yards of waste that goes to the landfill due to the cups to persuade people that this is a problem.
• Also, we thought more people would be buying coffee this year because it's extremely cold out. This builds our case even more.
• We will calculate our numbers based off of 5 days a week and 15 weeks in the semester.
• We will include the C-store but not downstair's dining.
3. Talked about other thoughts.
• David found out that in the campus bookstore a mug is $6-$10, a metal thermos is $12-$15, and a plastic travel mug is $18 so we thought we could sell reusable mugs for the program in the bookstore as well.
• It would be a cost savings for Sodexo not buying all of these cups and we thought we could offer a discount of 10 cents to students if they are using a reusable mug to get their coffee in. 
• Our campus prides itself on the UC specifically being a "green" and environmentally friendly building so avoiding the use of so many disposable cups fits the buildings mission. 

For our next meeting on March 5…

1. Angie is going to check on the price of the cups.
2. Chelsea is going to ask the C-Store for the number of coffees they sell each day and the cost of their supplies.
3. Rachelle is going to try and calculate the cubic yards of landfill.
4. Everyone is going to take pictures of overflowing garbage cans with coffee cups in them. 

Just some numbers

Hello group -- I did some simple math regarding how many cups they use at the Peregrine Perk. According to one of the gals there, they serve anywhere from 250 to 300 cups of hot beverages every day. I split the difference and if they were to sell 275 cups of hot beverages 5 days a week for 15 weeks that would be 20,625 cups in a semester. It would also be 20,625 plastic lids and 20,625 paper sleeves. A big number! I was unable to figure out how much space the cups might take up in a landfill, but I think the large number kind of speaks for itself. Angelica is getting information regarding cost for cups, lids and sleeves -- significant savings could be realized for both the Peregrine Perk and the C-Store.

Group Meeting #2

Our group met today (Wednesday, Feb 19th) from 12-12:40 in one of the library study rooms. This is where we are going to try to meet each week.


The people that attended were:
-David Dahle
-Anne Weber
-Angie Franco
-Rachelle Messner


Chelsea was at an interview, but she had the blog made and ready to go for us today.


We covered a lot of information today and we have a really good start so far. The topics that
were covered today were:
            1. Bringing your own "to go" cup to the University Center coffee shop and C-store.
            2. We could get a 10 cent discount for bringing the cup.
            3. We are going to figure out how much plastic and cardboard we would save.
            4. We were going to talk to the coffee ladies to find out how much is spent on plastic and
                 cardboard supplies.
            5. We are going to figure out the different size options.
            6. These cups/mugs would be provided during Week Of Welcome and sold at the
                Falcon Shop.
            7. Reduce:Reuse:Recycle
            8. Rachelle is going to talk to the coffee ladies about this idea and to gather information
            9. David is going to check out the prices of cups sold in the Falcon Shop.
          
Our next meeting is going to be next Wednesday the 26th at the same time, and the same place.

Our First Official Meeting

Our first official meeting was on Thursday, February 13 in class from 10:15am to 10:45am. We met in the classroom, 205 North Hall, as all other groups did. I think it was safe to say we were excited to get together as there had been so much talk about the group project and working in these teams. :)

Everyone was in attendance: 

• David Dahle 
• Anne Weber
• Angelica (Angie) Franco
• Rachelle Messner
• Chelsea Jannett

Items discussed during the meeting included:

1. Personal information about each team member: major/minor, hometown, family life, where we work and have worked, and whatever else we felt our group should know.
2. Personal strengths and skills we have. I do not believe we got to hear everyone's, so I believe it would be beneficial to come back to this next time.
3. Where and when our weekly group meetings will be. Our weekly group meetings are each Wednesday from 12pm-1pm in the Library. It's possible that since we all have class in KFA before, we might all walk there together! :) 

We decided Chelsea would figure out the blog or at least bring her computer to the next group meeting to get it set up by the first group meeting on Wednesday, February 19. 

A decision was also made that everyone would think of ideas on what they would like to see changed on campus and that the official topic we will work to improve on campus will be decided at the meeting on Wednesday, February 19. 

With that said, our next group meeting is Wednesday, February 19 in the Library. 

I'm looking forward to a great experience working in this group. I already believe I am incredibly lucky to have been placed with these individuals!