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Did you know that a reusable bag has the potential to offset 20,000 plastic bags over its lifetime? That’s a lot of plastic!

By keeping a reusable bag or two in your car, you can make this simple cool choice on every shopping trip – even when you’re in a hurry. You can also give gifts in a reusable shopping bag to reduce waste; the recipient will probably be grateful to have an extra reusable bag on hand!

Check out these links for more information on reusable bags:

• Bag Tips
• Saving Money with Bags

Curious about how our program works?

See a demo of our dashboard, social stream and standings page. Get your questions about customization, multi-facility options and other logistics answered.

We’ll respond to what you’d like to know.

May 26, 2016 at 1:00-1:30pm CST
(2:00-2:30pm EST)

Register Now

We love when clients return to implement the Cool Choices game-based sustainability program for a second or even third time. We’re delighted to partner again with Inpro, a leader in the manufacturing industry with a truly remarkable commitment to environmental sustainability.

Inpro first enlisted Cool Choices to deliver an 8-week game-based sustainability program in 2014. More than 50% of Inpro’s employees participated in the Cool Choices game and reported actions representing almost $200,000 in annual savings!

Amanda Goetsch, Sustainability Manager at Inpro, explained, “Sustainability, in part, is about having fun while creating a more resilient and vibrant future for all stakeholders. Playing the Cool Choices game helped our employees integrate healthy and uplifting habits into their lives, while at the same time adding a little padding to their pocketbooks. Cool Choices is a tool that helps us increasingly integrate sustainability into our corporate culture and our employees love it!”

Taking part in the Cool Choices program, Michael R. Sekula, Global Vice President of Supply Chain Management & Safety at Inpro shared, “If you are struggling with engaging your staff around sustainability, Cool Choices is your tool. It’s fun, engaging and I believe both the company and the employee learn a great deal from the program.”

This month Inpro is launching their second partnership with Cool Choices. Employees at Inpro will form teams and compete daily to report their sustainable actions. Participants will earn points and win prizes for reporting actions that reduce resource consumption and help the environment. The Cool Choices team would like to welcome Inpro employees for a second time! We’re excited to see the impact you’ll make during your second company-wide Cool Choices sustainability game.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you address your corporate sustainability goals.

Cool Choices daily action cards can be customized to reflect your specific sustainability goals.

Did you know your organization can customize our game-based sustainability program to meet your specific goals? Our fun and effective game-based approach to corporate sustainability and employee engagement can take your organization’s efforts to the next level—where sustainable practices become the new normal.

Cool Choices offers a fresh and effective way to get rank-and-file employees excited about and involved in corporate sustainability efforts.

When it comes to transforming cultures, one size doesn’t fit all. The Cool Choices platform supports clients who have very specific interests relative to employee engagement and sustainability.

For example:

• In a healthcare setting the business might want to influence employee practices around waste management.
• A law firm may opt to emphasize electronic records.
• A manufacturing plant may choose to put the emphasis on end-of-shift protocols.

In partnership with Cool Choices your organization can customize the daily sustainable actions featured in our online platform, adding actions that are tailored to your unique priorities. We couple these custom actions with our standard ‘deck’ of activities, which helps to ensure there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to be part of the solution.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help you create a fun, social and easy experience that’s custom-made to address your corporate sustainability goals.

See Cool Choices in action at Outpost Natural Foods, a natural foods grocery co-op with six locations in Wisconsin! Watch Now

Learn more about how the Cool Choices program was implemented at Outpost Natural Foods.

Curious about how Cool Choices can help your organization?
Contact us for more information.

Curious about how our program works?

Participate in a brief demo and get your questions—about customization, multi-facility options and other logistics answered.

We’ll respond to what you’d like to know.

April 27, 2016 at 1:00-1:30pm CST
(2:00-2:30pm EST)

Register Now

Folks who play Cool Choices discover simple eco-driving habits that save money and reduce their carbon footprint. During a game of Cool Choices, card actions offer points to players who improve their daily driving habits. For example, players can earn points for their team by avoiding “jack rabbit” starts and stops, driving the speed limit, and removing extra weight from their vehicles. (Of course there are also points for choosing public transportation, biking or walking instead of driving.)

By making eco-driving habits a fun and social challenge, these changes become a simple and cool way to see increased fuel efficiency and to be more green.

Check out what our Cool Choices participants have to say about their new driving habits:

Drive the Speed Limit, Save $

“I drive around 500 miles/week and slowing down saves me close to $10/week in fuel.”

“I’ve slowed down while driving most places. As a result, I’ve seen about a 3% increase in fuel efficiency.”

“I tend to drive fast and Cool Choices has taught me about money savings to drive the speed limit and [I] walked away being less stressed and calmer when driving and taking in the beautiful scenery around me.”

“It is hard for me to give up driving all together, but I was glad to hear that it was possible to make my habits better.”

Combine Errand Trips, Follow the Over/Under 40MPH Rule

“My wife and I have made a pact to run into town only once per day.
Previous to the game we might drive into town three or four times a day… Now we make a list of things we need.”

“If we need something, we do a list and bundle the errands together.  Saves time/gas/money.”

“Learning the 40mph rule (under 40mph windows down, over 40mph use AC) was very helpful,
I never knew the threshold before but suspected there must be one.”

Choose Not to Idle, Maintain Recommended Tire Pressure 

“I will never idle my car if I have the option to turn it off.”

“My co-worker actually permanently changed her commuting habits (leaving earlier in the morning to avoid sitting in traffic and idling)
because of the game. Come on now, that’s cool!”

“[I’m] committed to checking tire pressure on a weekly basis.”

Join in and try some of these green driving tips today! 

Looking for new and innovative ways to green your workplace? The Cool Choices online sustainability game can help; our game and engagement platform collects great ideas from employees on greening the workplace and builds a buzz about sustainability at your organization.

For example, a 30-point card prompts, “Suggest a new way to save energy at work.”

This is a simple and effective way to get employee engagement—and input specific to your organization—around sustainable changes that can be implemented. In just a few minutes a day, Cool Choices makes sustainability and energy-saving measures top of mind for your employees and delivers concrete energy and cost-saving strategies. Our clients receive an End-of-Game Report (including a compilation of employee suggestions) as part of their Cool Choices implementation.

Curious about the kinds of suggestions Cool Choices participants make?

Our clients see three kinds of ideas, each providing a different engagement opportunity:

1. Hidden Opportunities for Savings

In many cases participants identify very specific savings opportunities that were not visible to sustainability leaders. In our work with a regional healthcare network, for example, a small rural clinic had developed an innovative recycling strategy; when a participant shared the idea via Cool Choices the organization’s leadership was able to replicate it in other locations. In many cases front line staff have the clearest view on where resources are being wasted; soliciting their ideas can accelerate efficiencies.

2. Support for New Organization-level Protocols

Participants often suggest practical organization-wide changes that will reduce overall resource use. In many games participants identify a number of strategies for reducing fleet costs—like new protocols for carpooling and vehicle selection. Often these ideas are not new; typically both sustainability and accounting staff had identified most of the savings opportunities previously. Leaders didn’t pursue the ideas, though, due to concerns about staff acceptance. By providing bottom-up momentum—ideas about how the organization can live its commitment to sustainability, coming from everyone across the organization versus just another cost saving idea from the folks in accounting—the Cool Choices program provided an opportunity to talk about and implement these ideas.

3. Audacious Goals

Some participants will suggest dramatic changes that are seem well beyond an organization’s current goals—like installing sufficient solar panels to power an entire factory. Within the game these suggestions provide a unique two-way opportunity for dialogue and education. Helping staff understand, for example, the number of panels required to power an industrial operation can increase staff appreciation for the value of energy efficiency. At the same time, leaders gain insights from the kinds of audacious goals participants suggest—knowing that staff support audacious goals can nudge leaders to think bigger as they update organization-wide sustainability goals.

If you’d like to engage your employees in innovative approaches to accelerate your organization’s sustainability efforts, please contact us.

Take a picture of a sustainable action, then share it!

This is a simple one, but it’s important. Did you bike to work? Do you compost? Did you switch to LED bulbs? Print double-sided? Turn off the lights when you leave a room? Snap a selfie and share it on social media. Your photo is social proof that you are doing your part and it can motivate others to act too. Social norms are powerful. Seeing images of climate success is inspiring and motivating.

Wouldn’t it be cool to see your Facebook feed or Twitter or Instagram stream filled with images of regular people stepping up to embrace sustainability and take on climate change? This is part of what happens inside a game of Cool Choices; people playing the game are inspired by one another’s sustainable actions shared in the social stream of the game. Simple actions ripple out into more and more cool choices.

Curious about what sustainable practices your actions could inspire? Take a selfie, tag us on one of the accounts below, and see how your selfie inspires actions in your social circle. This is the chance to take a selfie for a cause!

See some examples on our Instagram account. Let’s make sustainability visible!

Cool Choices on Facebook
Cool Choices on Twitter
Cool Choices on Instagram

“I did not want to let my team down.”
– Cool Choices player

Teams are a cornerstone of the Cool Choices online sustainability game and engagement platform: you must be on a team to play.

We rely on teams because behavior change is hard and research shows it’s less hard when you have social support.

“The data is clear: when individuals are accountable to a team or get encouragement from others, it has a big impact on their well-being — the more support they have, the greater chance they’ll achieve and maintain a healthy lifestyle.” Social Support: Impact on Health and the Bottom Line, Dean Witherspoon

In a game of Cool Choices a team’s standing depends on the activity of all team members—which means players are accountable to each other. It’s not unusual for teammates to develop nudge strategies—ways to remind each other to play.

Think about that for a moment: employees spontaneously reminding each other to adopt sustainable practices.

Jim, I saw you turn off the light – claim your Cool Choice so that we stay in the lead!

Hey Ann, I saw you claimed points today for carpooling—nice job!  Did you remind Alana to play?

Most Cool Choices players talk about sustainability with colleagues at least once a week during the game. Those are conversations where folks are sharing their values as well as pragmatic strategies for saving energy and resources.

One of the big challenges with inspiring action around climate change is that individuals often feel powerless in comparison to the scale of the issue. Seeing friends and colleagues take action—and being part of a team that is taking action—is empowering.  Our players are part of a team and that team is part of a larger community where hundreds or thousands of individuals are taking action.

With support, regular people can reduce their emissions; they can improve the quality of their lives while reducing the waste. Teams are a critical part of that strategy.

How can you apply the benefits of team dynamics to boost engagement in your workplace or community?

Curious about how Cool Choices can help your organization? Contact us for more information.