Issue link: http://www.insightdigital.biz/i/112770
in foc us green Business Green gaming Cool Choices inspires workers to make lasting eco-friendly changes By Rich Redman W hat���s the best way to get everyday citizens across Wisconsin to be greener? That question led to the creation of Madison-based Cool Choices, a statewide nonprofit founded in 2009 which has been piloting its innovative approaches in the New North. ���Our mission is to inspire individuals, businesses and communities to adopt sustainable practices to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions,��� says Kathy Kuntz, the group���s executive director. The organization���s initial project is an action-focused card game, also called Cool Choices. Why a game? ���It���s a concept to show people how to improve,��� says Raj Shukla, program manager for the organization. ���We���re trying to build social support, a reward for sustainability.��� ���Sustainability is often a lonely enterprise,��� continues Shukla. ���Not many people can see you flipping off light switches in your house or changing faucets, so we���re trying to make it a more public thing. We want to have fun and celebrate success around sustainability ��� earning points and getting high-fives for things like tire pressure or water/energy/ waste reduction.��� Miron Corporation The first major pilot for the game was with Neenah-based Miron Construction. ���Sustainability is one of 42 | Insight ��� M a r c h 2 013 our key corporate drivers,��� says Theresa Lehman, Miron���s director of sustainable services. ���We wanted sustainability to be a lifestyle change ��� not just a temporary diet ��� so we decided to run the game for six months.��� Here���s how it worked. Employees divided into teams and got points for energy-saving actions they took in the office or at home. Each month they received a new set of action cards focusing on changes around energy use, transportation, water efficiency, recycling, indoor air quality and energy/gas consumption. For every action they took, they got points ��� for themselves and for their team. The result? Nearly 70 percent (218 Miron employees) participated, and they reported 18,400 sustainable actions during the campaign, which began on Cool Choices cards can help businesses to help employees make greener choices, which is wise for both the environment and the bottom line. Earth Day in 2011. These actions resulted in 463,400 kilowatt hours of electricity saved ��� enough to power 47 homes for a year. Miron employees also saved 4,300 therms of natural gas, 17,500 gallons of gasoline, 133 million pounds of CO2, and 693,000 gallons of water. Overall, the result was an estimated savings of $127,000 through new actions. Menasha Corporation Menasha Corporation, also based in Neenah, is also implementing the game. ���One of the three big initiatives we are working on is employee engagement, and one of our four key strategies is sustainability,��� says Morgan Wiswall, purchasing initiatives and w w w. i n s i g h t o n b u s i n e s s . c o m