Waukesha firms are making Cool Choices
With its radiumtainted drinking water, Waukesha County is a region that could benefit from a mindset of conservation and sustainability.
With that in mind, at least 28 Waukesha companies are participating in a program this fall to inspire their employees to engage in environmentally sustainable behaviors.
Cool Choices, a Madison-based nonprofit organization founded in 2009, implements workplace sustainability programs that inspire employees to adopt smart practices that save energy, water and money at work and at home.
In the process, the program generates new ideas for reducing waste at work and increasing employee engagement with corporate sustainability goals.
Cool Choices implements projects for employers across the country that are trying to engage their employees in environmental sustainability.
Normally, Cool Choices charges a fee to oversee the projects. However, the organization received a grant from the McKnight Founda-
tion to implement a free, community-scale program somewhere in Wisconsin. After meeting with businesses involved in the Oconomowoc Chamber of Commerce and the TriCounty Workforce Development Board this year, Cool Choices selected Waukesha County for the free program.
“Unemployment rates are pretty low in Waukesha County, and business leaders are concerned about attracting and retaining quality workers,” said Kathy Kuntz, executive director of Cool Choices. “These leaders have been interested to learn that millennials — the future workforce — prefer to work for companies that not only have corporate sustainability goals but that provide employees with opportunities to contribute to those goals.
“Our initial discussion in Oconomowoc was unique in that the conversation focused on workforce issues, with the financial savings that come from adopting more sustainable practices being a secondary benefit,” Kuntz said.
Inpro Corp., a Muskego-based designer of architectural products, and its 600 employees have participated in the Cool Choices program for three years.
After some initial investments in low-flush toilets, natural prairie grass and other upgrades, becoming more sustainable by conserving water, energy and materials has saved the company $65,000 per year, according to Inpro CEO Phil Ziegler.
“I just love this stuff. I’ve got evidence that shows that by going green, it saves money,” Ziegler said. “The employees love doing this.”
Lisa Geason-Bauer, president of Evolution Marketing in Oconomowoc, was one of the first business owners to sign up for the Cool Choices program this year.
“This is a great opportunity for my small business to play the game. The folks on my team really enjoy it,” said Geason-Bauer, an early adopter and proud driver of a Nissan Leaf electric car. “With our unemployment rate being so low, having a program like Cool Choices is a way of keeping good people.”
Waukesha County companies eager to participate in the free program have until Monday to register. Once a company signs up, Cool Choices staff will help it with “onboarding” its employees, providing webinars and templates to launch a custom program.
In the program, employees earn points by engaging in behaviors such as turning off water while brushing their teeth, turning off a car’s A/C when driving less than 40 mph, installing rain barrels, recycling scrap paper for seed packets and creating compost bins.
Bottom line: They’re hugging trees. In Waukesha County.