Sustainability Stories
Sustain Dane’s Sustainability Stories platform amplifies the voices of people from different backgrounds, races, ages, genders, and geographies that are working on and want to inspire others to build a more sustainable and inclusive community. Read sustainability stories from Madison, Dane County, and beyond.
Reducing the Energy Burden in Affordable Rental Housing
By Adam Blust Collaboration. That’s the key to bringing energy efficiency to affordable housing in Dane County and beyond. Sustain Dane brought together experts from business, nonprofits, education and government to discuss this collaboration at its most recent...
Numbers 4 Nonprofits Sustainability Story
Since nonprofits often run-on tight budgets, it is often difficult to recruit a full-time finance position on staff. Numbers 4 Nonprofits (N4N) provides an alternative to that by attracting high level professionals with an abundance of expertise to contract with...
Climate Action Story—Food
Our green team met in February of 2020 with plenty of lofty goals, one of which was to start an office compost. Not long after starting our research, the pandemic set in and that goal was pushed to the bottom of our priorities. As things began opening back up in 2021,...
Mundo Esperanza Sustainability Story
In May of 2022 Sustain Dane staff met with members of Mundo Esperanza to discuss their sustainability story. Among the members it included organization president Vicor Villacrez, vice president and spiritual advisor Rene Heiden, and board of directors' members Steve...
Climate Action Story
Most college students are on tight budgets and don’t have a lot of time to work on their wardrobe outside of all the time devoted to work, classes and extracurriculars. When you find out about a themed event, college students often turn to fast fashion brands like...
Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison Sustainability Story
We sat down with Laura LaMere, the Environmental Services Manager at Ho-Chunk Gaming Madison to talk sustainability. In this role she works on holistic sustainability in Ho-Chunk Gaming’s operations. She shared her view that “sustainability isn't just environmental it...
Climate Action Story—Food
I was pleased and encouraged to learn that switching to a more plant-based diet would have such a positive impact on climate change, especially when I considered the collective impact with others that are likely making a similar commitment. Such a switch seemed like a...
Climate Action Story—Food
I made a commitment to eat less meat, which in all honesty, wasn't a huge commitment in many ways because I only eat meat once in awhile. But it has made me consider going full vegetarian, and also about what products I purchase that extend beyond simply eating meat....
Climate Action Story—Transportation
My goal is to bike 2,022 miles that I otherwise would have drove in a car in 2022. With it being winter with limited hours of light, I have not bike commuted yet, but hope to start in the coming weeks with warmer temperatures and more daylight. —Chris Jimieson
Climate Action Story—Transportation
I have succeeded in my Transportation goal, in a somewhat roundabout way (Get it? Roundabout?? Transportation??? Anyway...). Originally I had planned to use the Madison MPO RoundTrip program to identify fellow carpoolers to avoid single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips...
Climate Action Story—Transportation
My commitment was to use public transportation and car pooling more to cut down on automobile use. The commitment was motivated by the experience we had during the pandemic where we were able to use only one car while the other was given to one of our kids so they...
Recap: Well-being & Leadership For Employees to Drive Social Impact
by Colin Steven Chval Overview and Introductions In January, 2022, Sustain Dane hosted another event in our Sustainable Breakfast Series. Three local business leaders and change-makers were brought into dialogue on a panel moderated by Sandy Xiong, Strategic Planning...