Tag: Climate Change

In a few weeks, several Cool Choices staff will attend the annual Behavior, Energy and Climate Change (BECC) conference. This will be my ninth time attending the annual BECC conference and I look forward to this event every year because for me, BECC is reinforcing, challenging and inspirational.

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In September I’ll present at the World Energy Engineering Congress in Atlanta. I’ll present on Engaging Employees to Maximize Savings: A Cool Approach as part of a session titled How to Stop Misbehaving to Save Energy and Money. The session title suggests that the priority is to stop bad behavior; here at Cool Choices, though, we focus on identifying, amplifying and multiplying good behavior.

It’s really about the frame.

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Hundreds of cities, counties, and even states made (or renewed) a public commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Some local governments made this commitment in response to President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. Others re-affirmed an existing commitment. For more than a decade, cities – both large and small – have recognized the economic advantages associated with sustainability, and have set aggressive goals. At the same time, sustainability advocates have long argued that cities – with zoning authority and direct accountability to a local population – are best poised to lead on sustainability. From recycling policies, to planning decisions that make it easier to bike to work, cities are where change is happening. 

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Increasingly, businesses are opting for sustainability. Being environmentally sustainable really just means finding ways to cut waste, which in turn reduces operating expenses – and every successful business wants to reduce operating costs and increase profits.

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Cool Choices is proud to announce that we will be presenting our fun, easy, and social approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the Smart Cities Connect Conference & Expo in Austin, Texas this year! The 2017 conference takes place from June 26-28, at The Austin Convention Center.

The Smart Cities conference is co-located with the US Ignite Application Summit, and brings together over 200 cities leaders from around the globe to prospect and partner with innovative technology and service providers like Cool Choices.

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I celebrated my seventh anniversary with Cool Choices last week at the Sustainable Brands conference. The event, which is very much a celebration of business leadership on sustainability coupled with a strong nudge to do more faster, was exactly the right place to be as I reflected on these past years.

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In April, 2017, more than 1,000 US businesses urged the Trump administration to strengthen the federal Energy Star program, rather than eliminating it. For these businesses, including big names like Staples and Ingersoll Rand, the argument is an economic one. Every tax dollar invested in the Energy Star program saves $680 annually, which is a return any businessperson would appreciate.

Here at Cool Choices, we are also a strong proponent of Energy Star. While we appreciate the economics, we also have other importation reasons for supporting the program.

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Can a game prompt change? Can people have fun while addressing serious issues like climate change?

Learn the benefits of a game-based approach in this free 30-minute webinar.

You’ll come away from the webinar with new tips you can begin using immediately in your own sustainability efforts!

March 18th | 12pm-12:30pm CST
(1pm-1:30pm EST)

Register Now

Cool Choices recently co-hosted the Eighth Annual Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council (WSBC) Conference at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. WSBC’s conference features businesses talking frankly about their efforts on the path to sustainability. The tales are insightful and inspiring—I always leave the event feeling a bit more optimistic about our ability to address the enormous climate challenges ahead of us.

Our event host, UW-Oshkosh, for example: the Sierra Club ranked UW-Oshkosh the third greenest university in the nation. It was terrific to hear how local officials had accomplished this, engaging the whole campus around sustainable practices, despite a tight budget. Their story was echoed in a variety of other presentations where business leaders talked about saving energy, reducing waste, measuring impacts and mobilizing employees.

Locally made coffee mugs at #WSBCC! Much more sustainable than disposable plastic cups!

And it is not just about the presentations. I also talked to a variety of attendees who were working on innovative projects to green facilities, operations and even supply chains.

The community also highlights the benefits of businesses leading on climate change mitigation. As policy leaders negotiated toward an agreement in Paris, business leaders in Wisconsin talked about their real-world efforts to reduce carbon emissions while increasing profits.

Part of the bliss of coming together each year as a community of business leaders working on sustainability is that it feels good to tell your story to someone who faces similar challenges. The congratulatory pats mean more when they come from someone who knows firsthand how hard it is to shift an organization’s orientation. WSBC has built a community of practitioners and the community is strong, supportive and inspiring.

Posted by Kathy Kuntz, Executive Director at Cool Choices

More about the WSBC Conference

One of the most compelling aspects of this event is the networking. As usual, I was able to build new relationships. I heard about some difficult challenges and about a few outstanding victories. I helped a few people make connections that will make their quests easier and I heard a story or two I will share in the coming months to inspire others. I encourage you to experience this conference in 2016 to reap the benefits of networking with other business leaders engaged in sustainability efforts.

The WSBC Conference is Designed for:

• C Suite Officers, Board Members, Senior Managers
• Small Business Owners, Plant Managers, Sustainability Coordinators
• Green Teams
• Students Interested in Sustainability

In 2013 Wisconsin Green & Healthy Schools (GHS) and Cool Choices partnered to create a Cool Choices-GHS game – and more than 30 Wisconsin schools began using the online sustainability game in early 2014! The game—which is free to GHS participating schools—provides a fun, social and easy path to reduced resource usage, improved health and wellness, and increased environmental literacy in Wisconsin’s PK-12 public and private schools.

Cool Choices customized its game platform for GHS, which is a partnership between the Department of Public Instruction, the Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education. The Cool Choices game will help participating schools engage their students, faculty and staff, while providing a streamlined approach to tracking sustainable actions in schools.

Cool Choices is delighted to support this innovative statewide effort that includes schools from urban to rural Wisconsin. Ultimately the program could reach all 3,000+ Wisconsin PK-12 schools.