CURC Steering Committee
December 4, 2007
Conference Call Began at Noon EST
Present: Alec Cooley, Mark Darling, Jack Debell, Judi Gard, Rob Gogan, Mary Jensen, Barb Kviz, Christine Von Kolnitz Cooley, Stacy Wheeler, Michael Youdelman
Absent: Tracy Artley, Dana Donatucci, Judi Dunn Gray, Deb Hanson, Ed Newman, Becky Valentich
1. Congress Workshop Discussion
Zero waste will be the overarching topic for the Congress. Jack said that zero waste should be embraced as a policy statement from CURC and Davos consensus (Switzerland). He also suggested that C&U speakers be embedded on zero waste tracks. Suggested speakers include Gunter Pauli, Gary Liss, Eric Lombardi and Ric Anthony. The group was reminded that if CURC goes with a zero waste theme, these concepts may be a bit confusing for coordinators new to the conversation. It was suggested that waste minimization actions for ACUPCC might be a good starting point. Christine suggested sending out the information in advance. It was also noted that the opportunity for natural conversations to occur should be maintained as it is an important part of being at the Congress.
A Congress Committee was formed and includes Jack, Ed, Michael, Barb Kviz (chair), Alec, Mary and perhaps Karyn.
2. RecycleMania
Ninety-nine schools have already signed up for RecycleMania. It was stated that the website needs some updating for functionality. The introduction of the metric adaptation, IPEDS and other pieces are impacting the ability of the software to manage the ranking and other pieces. The toolkits include banners and CD ROM clipart. The posters from last year will be in hard copy form and sent directly to participating schools. They will be shipped the last week of December.
ACUPCC is also pushing schools to participate in RecycleMania.
Single-stream schools were a part of the last RecycleMania steering committee call. It is difficult to participate in the targeted materials categories with this recycling scheme. Rob is crunching numbers to determine the best way for them to characterize their waste stream.
The RecycleMania listserve should come online next week.
3. Webinar Series
Rob, Al and Robyn were presenters on December 4. The session was in a teleconference format, though the goal of this series is to host full-fledged webinars where the presenter would have control over each participant’s desktop. Expense and complexity made it impractical for the Dec. 4 workshop. Alec sent participants a questionnaire but has not yet tabulated the results. There were 38 attendees, with 7 non-members. The next is on promotion and education and will be publicized on the RecycleMania listserve. Other possible publicity opportunities include SCUP, AASHE, APPA and ACHUHO publications.
Weyerhauser awarded CURC a $5,000 grant to support the webinar series.
4. AF&PA Grant
AF&PA has granted CURC $25,000 for a peer-to-peer speakers’ bureau networking program. Kate is waiting on details from AF&PA.
5. Bin Grant Program
The bin grant program was sponsored by Coca-Cola. Twenty-five hundred people registered and 1,300 applications were received. Approximately 75 awardees will receive bins. Winners will be posted on the NRC’s webpage next week. They are currently finalizing the contracts with bin manufacturers. Many lessons were learned and they will be applied to the next round as this is a twice annual grant program.
6. Work Plan
Items to include in the next work plan include:
• Continuation of the webinar series.
• A pre-Congress get-together (March).
• Participation in the annual Congress, with the continuation of the scholarships
• Continued help from Alec.
• Benchmarking, including an online database of school programs with a form for comparison. Perhaps this will become a function on the RecycleMania or CURC website.
• Continue grants and awards.
• Follow up on Judi’s and Deb’s work.
• List of job descriptions on the website.
• The Campus Refuse Profile – should it be resurrected? Can we compliment some of the other data tracking and reporting forms that are out there (e.g. RecycleMania, WasteWise, ACUPCC, EPA, state programs, etc.)?
Highlights from 2007 included bringing Karen Gasky to the NRC Congress and having Alec’s help.
7. CURC Retreat
Alec suggested a 1-2 day retreat for CURC, with one day being centered on RecycleMania and the other on CURC. Alec is working with Kate to fund it through a sponsor. Where do we want to be in 5 years? What are our goals? Who do we want to have involved as sponsors?
8. Adjourn.