GREEN PARTNERSHIPS
2016 – Present
Green Partnerships empowers our members to promote sustainability by partnering with local businesses and nonprofits in projects advocating for sustainable practices. Along the way, our members develop and strengthen their skills in partnership formation, research and analysis, and sustainability consulting—implementing tangible green practices in their community.
THE SITDOWN SUSTAINABILITY STRATEGY
We designed a three-tiered sustainability plan based on the goals of the Sitdown Café in Hyde Park, including advising a cost-effective alternative to single-use utensils.
OUR
STRATEGY
We assist our partners in their sustainability needs through individualized plans, guides, and events.
TRUE NORTH PARTNERSHIP COORDINATION
We coordinated a partnership between the True North Café and Healthy Soil Compost to ensure coffee grounds were put to productive use rather than going into a landfill.
THE UPSCALE SALON STUDENT EVENT
We brought in The UpScale Salon to provide subsidized haircuts and styling to PSI members in preparation for PSI Formal. This event promoted the ease of no-heat hairstyling and eco-friendly hair products.
Our members bring thoughtful analysis and innovative solutions to our partners, targeting four main categories: water conservation, energy sourcing, food procurement, and waste management. We assist our partners by connecting them to waste collectors, providing insight on energy use practices, replacing single-use materials, conducting waste-audits, helping with grant proposals, and more.
our autumn '22 partners
Each member spent the Autumn Quarter researching potential partners and doing outreach to multiple local businesses and nonprofits each week. The goal is to secure quarter-long partnerships for winter and spring. We secured 6 partners with corresponding partnership meetings.
UChicago Department of Transportation / Divvy
Along with Green Data, we presented 15+ cost and ridership analyses to the Director of Transportation Beth Tindel, who is enthusiastic about implementing a Lyft–Divvy hybrid program.
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SugarBliss Bakery
We are excited to work again with former partner SugarBliss Bakery, an alumnus-owned, Chicago-based bakery in the Loop.
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Blackstone Library (Chicago Public Library branch)
Librarian April Lundberg expressed interest in working with PSI to run a book sale and plant a garden on the property in 2023.
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Urban Canopy
We hope to promote of Urban Canopy's composting services on campus and to our partners to establish a high-density compost collection area to reduce Urban Canopy’s carbon emissions in compost hauling.
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Wesley Shoe Store
We met with the owner, Bruce Wesley, to discuss potential avenues for collaboration that will be expanded upon in Winter Quarter.
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The Spice House
The CEO expressed enthusiasm to collaborate and placed us in contact with a representative to explore collaboration opportunities.
Member Skill-Building
In preparation for quarter-long projects in the winter and spring, we focused Autumn 2022 on building skills in research, analysis, consulting, and general sustainability knowledge. We listened to and interacted with 25-minute presentations about partnership formation; thinking and presenting like a consultant; and using Excel for sustainability analysis.
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Each of our members delivered up to 15-minute presentations about sustainability topics relevant to partnership-building, consulting, and general sustainability.
Bakery Recycling Consulting
We worked with downtown female and minority-owned business Sugar Bliss Bakery to help develop educational materials for proper recycling practices for Sugar Bliss’s cookie product line, now sold at Walgreens.
In 2021, we applied to the James Beard Foundation Grant for the South Side businesses Bot Bakery, Conscious Plates, and Demera Ethiopian.
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The grant supports businesses that are majority-owned by Black or Indigenous individuals, and aims to support and rebuild an independent restaurant industry to be more sustainable and resilient post-COVID-19.
We continued our grant-writing work in 2022 by drafting an Amber Grant application for Saucy Porka. The $10,000 grant emphasizes sustainable, women-owned businesses. We also provided a list of sustainable utensils and soup containers for Saucy Porka.
Sustainable Grant Writing Support
Plant-Based Restaurant Week
We host an annual plant-based restaurant week featuring 10%-20% discounts on vegan or vegetarian menu items at various Hyde-Park restaurants.
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University members who participate are eligible to win sustainable goods after uploading their receipts.
Past partner restaurants include: B’Gabs, Snail Thai, The Sitdown Café, True North Café, Litehouse Grill and Café 53.
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Check out our 2022 flyer!
Our Partners
Medici on 57th
Sanctuary Café
The Sitdown Café
True North Café
Saucy Porka
The UpScale Salon
Café 53
Litehouse Grill
B'Gabs
SugarBliss Bakery
UChicago Department of Transportation / Divvy
Blackstone Library
Urban Canopy
Wesley Shoe Store
The Spice House
Our Resources
