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Every year, Planning, Sustainability and Project Management curates campus Earth Month events and compiles them in an online calendar to encourage participation by the UIC community. If you are planning Earth Month events during April, please email sustainability@uic.edu with details about what you’re planning so it can be added to the calendar. 

The Sustainability Fund is a student-led initiative that aims to reduce UIC’s environmental impact. It supports UIC’s five climate commitments to become a carbon neutral, zero waste, net zero water, biodiverse and transformative scholarship university and is funded by the student sustainability fee.

Proposals for sustainability-oriented projects are welcomed from students, faculty and staff. Funding proposals must align with the university’s climate commitments and reflect solutions from its Climate Commitment Action Plan 2024.

 Recently, the fund has supported proposals that address:

Proposals for less than $5,000 are considered on a rolling basis and can be submitted at any time on the Sustainability Fund website. Proposals exceeding $5,000 must submit an initial Letter of Inquiry. This letter allows applicants to receive feedback on their project before submitting a full application.

Spring 2026 Letters of Inquiry are due Friday, March 6. After reviewing the Letters of Inquiry, the Sustainability Fund Advisory Board will invite selected applicants to submit final proposals by Friday, April 3.

Learn more and apply online.

The Heritage Garden is a student-led, hands-on paid internship program for undergraduate students that explores environmental, climate and social justice through an intercultural lens. It is currently seeking applicants for its summer internship program. The application deadline is March 1 and DACA- and RISE Act-eligible students are encouraged to apply.

To learn more about the program, what’s required of interns and to apply, visit heritagegarden.uic.edu/apply-now.

The Heritage Garden is also seeking volunteers to participate in some hands-on gardening and learn how its interns are connecting horticulture with environmental sustainability, cultural diversity and social justice. Upcoming sessions will be held at Latino Cultural Center at the following dates and times:

All members of the UIC community are invited to attend and should register at go.uic.edu/Spring26Volunteer.

On January 1, the Illinois Portable and Medium-Format Battery Stewardship Act went into effect. The law regulates the safe collection, recycling and management of batteries, including those in small everyday electronics like phones and laptop computers. The law requires companies that sell batteries or products with batteries to pay into a battery stewardship organization to cover the costs of the statewide collection program. 

Illinois is the 16th state to enact this type of legislation. After years of powering remotes, children’s toys, and other household devices, the final destination for used batteries is usually the junk drawer. It’s even worse to toss them in a trash can. You can keep battery toxins out of landfills by dropping them off at community collection sites for recycling.

Visit go.uic.edu/recyclables to find out where you can drop off batteries on campus and batterynetwork.org/locator for drop-off locations in your community.

The Green Teacher Gathering seeks to bolster the environmental and sustainability education movement in the Chicagoland area. Its mission is to expand participants' knowledge through engaging workshops and networking opportunities.

Proposals for interactive workshops that engage participants through hands-on activities and knowledge sharing must be submitted through its online portal and are due at 11:59 p.m. CST on Monday, March 2. Outdoor space is available to host your workshop and speakers will receive a $90 stipend.

Workshops will be an hour long and organized into four learning tracks:

The event will be held at the Academy for Global Citizenship, 4942 W. 44th St. 

The University of Illinois Champaign Urbana’s Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment will host its Critical Conversation 2026 in Chicago on March 5 at the Illini Center Orange & Blue Room, 200 S. Wacker Drive.

"Balancing the Intended and Unintended Effects of Managing Pests" will feature a free public keynote by Scott McArt, associate professor of pollinator health at Cornell University. McArt helps run the Dyce Lab for honey bee studies and the Cornell Chemical Ecology Core Facility. His lab focuses on understanding how pesticides, pathogens and habitat impact the health of honey bees and native wild pollinators.

Please register online if you plan to attend the session.

The Plant is a long-time UIC partner in all things sustainability. Located in Chicago’s Back of the Yards neighborhood, the 100,000 square-foot former pork processing facility is now a collaborative community of small food businesses committed to material reuse and closed loop systems. It is also a nationally-recognized example of adaptive reuse of historic Chicago buildings. 

Its semiannual Reuse-a-Palooza event will be held on Sunday, March 15. It provides opportunities to repair clothing and household items, safely dispose of tricky-to-recycle items and donate bicycles, clothing, and more while bringing attention to strategies to reduce waste and improve environmental conditions. The event attracts a variety of waste-reduction and repurposing enthusiasts and focuses on economically, environmentally, and socially responsible approaches to purchasing and consumption.

Visit the Reuse-a-Palooza web page to learn more about what items can be accepted and view a list of participating organizations.

Connect with us via Instagram, Facebook and YouTube to stay updated about sustainability-related events, news, jobs and involvement opportunities.

Become an EcoVolunteer
EcoVolunteers help eventgoers properly sort waste, set up and run annual events like the Great Stuff Exchange, talk about UIC’s sustainable initiatives and spread the good word at campus events. EcoVolunteers also help plant trees and native plants on campus.

More information can be found on the EcoVolunteer web page

Join EcoReps
EcoReps act as liaisons between their unit/department and Planning, Sustainability and Project Management. Group members attend webinars throughout the year to learn about sustainability issues and how to make their office space and culture more sustainable. They also share information with their organizations about upcoming sustainability events such as the Great Stuff Exchange, Campus Electronic Recycling Events and Earth Day.

You can find out more on the EcoReps web page.

The Chancellor's Committee on Sustainability and Energy (CCSE) focuses on implementing CCAP 2024 and achieving the UIC Climate Commitments.

Join a subcommittee!