Sustainable Living
DIY Composting for Everyone
Americans waste an estimated 30-40% of our food supply every year. There are a few important ways we can reduce this: purchase less food initially, use all food purchased, and eat all leftovers. Composting offers another way to reduce your food waste. Vermicomposting, which uses worms to break down food faster, is an easy option that everyone (even renters and those without backyards) can do. Below, we offer a DIY composting tutorial on starting your vermicomposter.
Read more6 Tips for a More Sustainable Thanksgiving
It’s nearly Thanksgiving! Here at Cool Choices, we’re excited to spend time with family and friends, as well as enjoy delicious food! While we can’t reduce the stress of hosting family and cooking the meal, we have a few suggestions for reducing the holiday’s impact on the planet.
Read moreHigh-Tech Gardens
Smart gardens are becoming ever more popular and accessible with open-source software that helps to reduce water use, weed growth, and labor.
It’s Time for Culture Change
Achieving aggressive sustainability goals requires more than a strategy; sustainability leaders need to facilitate a culture change so that sustainable practices are part of a new normal.
Making Cool Choices in Northeast Wisconsin
Some ideas are so good that they merit replication.
Last year Cool Choices did a community-scale sustainability program in Waukesha County, in partnership with the county’s workforce development team and local chambers of commerce. Sustainability leaders in the Fox Valley heard about the program and reached out to ask if we could replicate the program in their region.
Sustainable Communities: Inspiring Local Changes to Address Global Challenges
Communities across the U.S. and around the world are making big commitments to clean energy and environmental sustainability more broadly. According to a 2018 report from the CDP, more than 100 cities get most of their electricity from renewable energy sources—up from just 42 in 2015. Plus, a growing number of communities ranging from London, England to Norman, Oklahoma and Eau Claire, Wisconsin are making commitments to clean energy and carbon neutrality.
Behavioral Insights on Increasing Electric Vehicle Usage
Globally we’re in the midst of an exciting transition to electric vehicles and there are signs of the change everywhere you look with cities, states and utilities all helping to promote this transition.
Energy Efficiency: Choosing the Best Light Bulb
When it comes to choosing a light bulb, there are lots of options—but what’s the most energy efficient choice? Not all bulbs are created equal.
Inspired to Keep Standing Up for Sustainability
Advocating for sustainability is difficult work. Sometimes it feels a little hopeless—we see the headlines about shrinking glaciers and rising temperatures alongside stories about short-sighted politicians. Or our efforts to implement a new sustainability practice lack traction and we feel that nobody else cares about these issues. Frustrated and discouraged, we might start to ask ourselves if our efforts are in vain, if it’s even possible to make change happen.
