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Cool Choices Engagement Game Supports Sustainable Business Initiative at Menasha Corporation
June 11, 2013
Cool Choices Engagement Game Supports Sustainable Business Initiative at Menasha Corporation
Madison, WI – June 11, 2013 – This summer, Menasha Corporation employees will earn rewards if they turn off lights, recycle or come up with a cool way to conserve resources at work or at home. By partnering with Cool Choices, a nonprofit organization that promotes environmentally sustainable practices through an interactive game, Menasha Corporation found a unique way to engage its employees in making sustainable choices.
With approximately 4,000 employees in over 70 facilities across the United States, Menasha Corporation, a corrugated and plastic packaging manufacturer headquartered in Neenah, Wis., chose the eight-week Cool Choices game to unite its workforce in making small changes that together have a positive impact at home and work. The game supports the company’s sustainability initiative and ongoing efforts to reduce its impact on the environment.
“We are thrilled with the level of employee engagement around sustainability at Menasha,” said Kathy Kuntz, Executive Director of Cool Choices. “Our game is a fun and social way to motivate and measure everyday sustainable actions. The game is a good fit with Menasha’s strong history of environmental planning and achievement; it demonstrates that there is business demand for employee sustainability programming. More, our partnership with Menasha offers a great opportunity to show the positive sustainable impact business can make.”
“Our Corporate Sustainability Team recognized that there were opportunities to further engage employees in our companywide sustainability initiative,” said Morgan Wiswall, Purchasing Initiatives and Sustainability Manager, Menasha Packaging Company. “We are looking to the Cool Choices game to provide a measurable companywide programming solution that fits our needs across the entire organization.”
Menasha Corporation established company-specific desirable results for the game using metrics based on employee engagement and sustainability-oriented ideas employees submit.
ABOUT
Cool Choices
Established in 2009, Cool Choices inspires and assists individuals, communities and businesses to adopt practices reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. A Madison-based nonprofit, Cool Choices seeks to make sustainable choices the norm by making them fun, social and easy. For more information visit www.coolchoicesnetwork.org
Menasha Corporation
Menasha Corporation is a leading corrugated and plastic packaging manufacturer and supply chain solutions provider specializing in retail merchandising packaging and displays, plastic reusable containers and pallets, protective packaging interiors, and packaging supply chain and fulfillment services. Menasha Corporation’s products and services are used by major food, beverage, consumer products, healthcare, pharmaceutical, industrial and automotive companies. Established in 1849, Menasha Corporation is one of America’s oldest privately held, family-owned manufacturing companies. Headquartered in Neenah, Wisconsin, the company employs approximately 4,000 employees in over 75 facilities in North America, Europe and Asia. For more information visit www.menasha.com
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“Making Cool Choices in Green & Healthy Schools” Receives Wisconsin Environmental Education Board Grant
May 10, 2013
Press Release
Contact:
Hiram Wurf, Marketing Communications Manager
hwurf[at]coolchoicesnetwork.org
222 N. Midvale Blvd., Suite 29
Madison, WI 53705
608.443.4274
“Making Cool Choices in Green & Healthy Schools” Receives Wisconsin Environmental Education Board Grant
Madison, WI – May 10, 2013 – The Wisconsin Environmental Education Board (WEEB) has awarded Cool Choices a $10,000 grant for its Making Cool Choices in Green & Healthy Schools program. Cool Choices, a nonprofit promoting environmentally sustainable practices, has partnered with Wisconsin Green & Healthy Schools (GHS) to implement the custom sustainability game for public and private Wisconsin PK-12 schools that participate in GHS. GHS is a partnership of the Department of Public Instruction, the Department of Natural Resources and the Wisconsin Center for Environmental Education.
“We are delighted to receive WEEB support for this innovative statewide effort,” said Kathy Kuntz, Executive Director of Cool Choices. “GHS aims to reduce waste, improve health and wellness and increase environmental literacy in Wisconsin’s public and private schools and the Cool Choices game will help participating schools engage students, faculty and staff more broadly.”
In 2013 the GHS team will train at least 120 public and private K-12 schools on the updated GHS program and the new Making Cool Choices in Green & Healthy Schools game. The training will reach schools from urban to rural Wisconsin. Ultimately the program could reach all 3,000+ Wisconsin PK-12 schools.
About
Cool Choices
Established in 2009, Cool Choices inspires and assists individuals, communities and businesses to take actions reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. A Madison-based nonprofit, Cool Choices seeks to make sustainable choices the norm by making them fun, social and easy. For more information visit www.coolchoicesnetwork.org
Wisconsin Environmental Education Board
Initiated in 1990, the WEEB’s mission is to “provide leadership in the development of learning opportunities that empower Wisconsin citizens with the knowledge and skills needed to make wise environmental decisions and take responsible actions in their personal lives, work places, and communities.” For more information visit http://www4.uwsp.edu/cnr/weeb
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Changing Habits Come from the Heart
April 9, 2013
As almost anyone will tell you, changing a habit is hard. Take that individual experience and expand it to a community, where habits are social norms, and change is more challenging. Here at Cool Choices we work with groups to inspire sustainable habits in fun, social and easy ways that facilitate sustainable norms. Our approach is unique, so we are heartened when we find company.
Midwest Energy News recently profiled Peggy Liu, co-founder of the Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE), on her work on the China Dream Initiative. With a Chinese middle class expected to grow from 474 million to 800 million by 2025, Chinese middle class consumption norms have major implications for global resources and sustainability. In response to these concerns, the China Dream Initiative seeks to
reimagine prosperity and reshape consumerism in China. The goal is to catalyze sustainable habits in the consuming class in China by baking it into the social norms of a new national identity – a Harmonious and Happy Dream.
In part this involves emphasizing experiences over the acquisition of tangible products. The emphasis is on quality of life over quantity of stuff. Interestingly, the Chinese Dream Initiative also ties their vision to traditional Chinese values.
The Initiative’s approach resonates with some of what we hear from Cool Choices players. We frame our game as fun, social and easy but as people play they talk about unexpected benefits – turning off the television gives you time to think, time to talk with your family. A nudge to eat locally can provide an opportunity to explore a farmer’s market, to connect with neighbors in a new way. Eco-driving can reduce stress and make post-commute social time more relaxed. After a game players often tell us they liked the lifestyle benefits the most.
It seems like part of the quest – for all of us – is to pause long enough to notice the benefits in living more versus just having more.
JUCCCE’s efforts to develop and actualize a Chinese Dream are worth following; perhaps their efforts can help inspire US consumers to pursue a similar future filled with more meaning and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.
Wisconsin Businesses: Leading on Sustainability
December 27, 2012
Wisconsin’s Sustainable Business Council hosted another terrific annual conference on December 7 at American Family’s headquarters in Madison. As usual, the event featured leaders from various companies talking about their internal efforts to accelerate sustainability through innovation, to engage employees, to green their supply chains and to reduce fleet costs. Corporate leaders were frank about what worked and what they learned when things did not work; they acknowledged the role of luck and timing in their efforts while also identifying the expertise and commitment required for various initiatives. In short, the event provided outstanding insights into sustainability efforts in Wisconsin.
And there is good news in those Wisconsin efforts. More and more companies are finding innovative ways to improve their bottom line, increase employee engagement and reduce environmental impacts. More, the companies presenting at this event are clear about the inter-relationship between those factors: better environmental practices make employees (and the surrounding community) happier; just as happier customers improve sales, happier employees demonstrate higher productivity and greater innovation, leading to greater profitability. This conference is clear proof that corporate leaders in Wisconsin recognize these connections and are working hard to create corporate environments sensitive to all three bottom lines.
At the same time, leaders were frank about the challenges. Business leaders’ primary responsibility is to ensure their businesses thrive, creating products for customers, maintaining jobs for their employees and generating value for shareholders. Certainly there were examples of companies taking a longer view on sustainability (Gundersen Lutheran Healthcare, for example), but other entities—especially younger companies—have to be more cautious about making sure the math adds up. Even there, though, some firms are re-thinking the math; Menasha Corporation shared an analytical tool they use to ensure that social and environmental benefits are factored into projects under consideration.
Events like this one reduce the risks for businesses contemplating new technologies or approaches. An opportunity to talk with another business leader—whether in your industry or not—who has implemented something you are considering is invaluable. Instead of a sales spin, attendees here get to hear reality—both good and bad—associated with a variety of efforts. And, armed with realities, the attendees leave better prepared to address sustainability in their own companies. It is a marvelous network that really does help to enhance all efforts over time.
If you missed this year’s event you can view sessions online in webinar format at the Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council’s new website. Check it out—there is plenty here to inspire your own sustainability efforts.
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