On Sept. 23, 2010, the JOUR199 discovery class went to the Illinois Sustainability Technology Center to learn about what the center does. According to the ISTC website, the staff members “identify and implement energy efficiency opportunities in industrial, commercial, institutional, and government sectors.” Basically, companies ask the people at ISTC to evaluate their buildings and procedures to determine the amount of waste they are producing. Then, the employees at ISTC will give suggestions about how to minimize the output of waste. The center has been given many awards, including the Sustainable Electronics Initiative. The man who gave the tour, Dr. Tim Lindsey, has been the recipient of a P2 Champion. This means that he has an “outstanding impact on implementing pollution prevention.” The ISTC encounters many challenges when it comes to downsizing the amount of waste 
people produce. One growing concern is e-waste. When people purchase new products, their older models are left sitting around out of use or are thrown away. Only about 15% of electronic parts are recyclable, leaving the rest to waste. Also, most products do not have interchangeable parts, so when an object breaks, it must be replaced completely. Finding new ways to reuse the e-waste is a current task at the ISTC. One way they are tackling this problem is by starting a competition challenging University of Illinois students to create “appealing, useful products from e-waste.” It has since grown to a global competition.
people produce. One growing concern is e-waste. When people purchase new products, their older models are left sitting around out of use or are thrown away. Only about 15% of electronic parts are recyclable, leaving the rest to waste. Also, most products do not have interchangeable parts, so when an object breaks, it must be replaced completely. Finding new ways to reuse the e-waste is a current task at the ISTC. One way they are tackling this problem is by starting a competition challenging University of Illinois students to create “appealing, useful products from e-waste.” It has since grown to a global competition.The ISTC works hard to reduce the amount of waste people and companies produce. They can give advice on how to make a building “green” while it is still being planned and designed. The center also has multiple seminars a month on how to incorporate sustainable technology in everyday use. To learn more about the ISTC , you can visit their website at http://www.istc.illinois.edu/.
By: Maggie McPhillips
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