Tag: Partners
Join Cool Choices and Participate in Green Masters
Last week Cool Choices completed its 2017 application for the Green Masters program, an initiative of the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council (WSBC) – a Cool Choices partner. Green Masters is a recognition and assessment program for Wisconsin businesses interested in improving their sustainability initiatives, and offers businesses an opportunity to benchmark their efforts.
WSBC Event: Wisconsin Businesses Must Be Sustainable
The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council (WSBC) hosted a terrific conversation around sustainability standards and disclosures in conjunction with honoring its annual Sustainable Business Award winners on June 23rd, in Muskego. We review key points on these topics from three prominent speakers.
Miron Completes Second Cool Choices Sustainability Program
Congratulations to Miron Construction Co., Inc., who just wrapped up their second Cool Choices employee engagement program around sustainability in June, 2017! Miron, a construction firm headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin, has a longstanding commitment to sustainability.
Cool Choices Partners with Kohler on Sustainability Program
Cool Choices is thrilled to announce our partnership with Kohler Co. and its associates to develop and field an employee engagement program promoting Kohler’s leadership in environmentally sustainable business practices.
Cool Choices to Attend Sustainable Brands 2017
Cool Choices is proud to announce that we will be attending the Sustainable Brands 2017 conference this year in Detroit, Michigan!
Sustainable Brands is a learning, collaboration, and commerce community of over 348,000 sustainable business leaders from around the world. Members include business leaders from a wide variety of industries, and represent brands such as Starbucks, Target, and Nike – just to name a very few.
Launched in 2006, Sustainable Brands’ mission is to empower more brands to prosper by leading the way to a better world. Sustainable Brands provides content, events, and other learning solutions to inspire, engage, and equip their community to be innovative, sustainable, and profitable.
Follett Team Members Take Game-Based Approach to Being Green
Cool Choices welcomes hundreds of Follett Corporation team members as they prepare to kick off their 6-week game-based sustainability program designed to create a buzz around being green at work and at home.
Follett team members will form teams of 6 and compete to take the greatest number of sustainable actions. Starting October 24th, participants at Follett will earn points for their teams and win prizes by reporting their daily sustainable actions online, including saving fuel and energy, recycling, choosing meatless meals and conserving water.
Founded in 1873, Follett currently works with 70,000 PreK-12 schools and higher education institutions as a leading provider of education technology, services and print and digital content. Follett demonstrates a strong commitment to the communities they serve and to various corporate social responsibility initiatives. For example, Follett promotes good in global communities through its campus store partnerships with Alta Gracia, a clothing brand known for its implementation of a living wage in the Dominican Republic, and the Thirst Project, a water non-profit founded and fueled by students. Additionally, Follett promotes educational innovation and a love of learning through its partnership with Reading is Fundamental and annual hosting of the Follett Challenge.
Once again, the Cool Choices team sends out a warm welcome to Follett team members!
UW Health to Launch Game-Based Sustainability Program
This summer 15,000+ employees at UW Health will be invited to take a unique approach to being green and staying well. Staff will participate in a customized Cool Choices 8-week sustainability and wellness program by forming teams and competing daily to log their sustainable actions online.
Participants can expect to save money and reduce their energy use, while also learning new ways to be green. The online game-based platform also collects great ideas from employees on greening the workplace; this means front-line employees can help identify specific and creative saving opportunities.
Shannon Bunsen Sustainability Specialist, UW Health
“We’re excited to try this new way of getting staff at UW Health engaged in sustainability and thinking about what it means in the context of healthcare. Cool Choices will give us an opportunity to build social capital around shared sustainability experiences and ideas,” said Shannon Bunsen, Sustainability Specialist, at UW Health.
“Our Green STEPS and Wellness programs are very focused on the impact of individual behavior change, building teams and creating social norms with healthy, sustainable actions,” said Ellen Houston, Clinical Exercise Physiologist, UW Health. UW Health is customizing their Cool Choices implementation to highlight the link between wellness and sustainability. UW Health staff will be encouraged to adopt practices that are both good for the planet and good for employee wellbeing.
“Folks recognize that a number of sustainable practices—biking, taking the stairs vs. the elevator, and eating less red meat—also have very clear health benefits. Broader practices—like reducing energy and water use, managing waste streams, etc.—also affect our overall wellbeing,” noted Kathy Kuntz, Executive Director of Cool Choices, “so it’s terrific that UW Health is engaging its employees around these practices that affect wellness both directly and indirectly. A leader in healthcare, UW Health is also taking leadership on environmental responsibility. Cool Choices is delighted to be able to help them experiment with a fun and social model.”
UW Health has a dedicated history of environmental responsibility that includes a focus on patient and employee wellness. Recent initiatives include blue sterile wrap and plastic film recycling, new BCycle docking stations and the addition of a Farmers Market at the University Hospital. Learn more about UW Health’s deep commitment to a healthy environment here.
The Cool Choices team welcomes UW Health employees! We’re looking forward to seeing the momentum you’ll achieve and impact you’ll make during your 8-week program.
Curious about how our program could work for you? Watch our fun 40-second video to learn more!
ComEd Chooses Cool Choices for Employee Sustainability Awareness Initiative
Cool Choices is enthusiastic about a new partnership with ComEd, an electric utility that provides service to approximately 3.8 million customers in Illinois.
ComEd is recognized for their commitment to the environment and this week they’re launching the Cool Choices 8-week employee engagement sustainability program. ComEd employees will take a few minutes each day to compete as teams to report the greatest number of sustainable actions.
The Cool Choices online platform and game is customized and branded specifically for ComEd’s implementation to increase engagement in and awareness of company-wide sustainability initiatives.
“ComEd understands the challenges in engaging people around sustainability–this is a quest they tackle every day. We are delighted to be able to help them experiment with a fun and social model,” said Kathy Kuntz, Executive Director of Cool Choices.
Welcome ComEd staff! We know you’ll have fun, save money and take sustainable actions that have a measurable impact in your game of Cool Choices.
Inpro Enlists Cool Choices Sustainability Program for 2nd Time
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.
8th Annual WI Sustainable Business Council Conference
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
