April 09 eMail update


Mpowering Madison wishes
you a Happy Earth Day!
Thanks Everyone for taking the Mpower pledge and making every day a day you care about our earth.




This Earth Day, take your pledge one step
further with CO2gether

You’ve joined 3,500 Madison area residents in taking the Mpower Pledge. Now it’s time to document your progress with the help of an interactive carbon calculator specific to south-central Wisconsin.

Register for CO2gether.org , take the video tour, join the Mpower discussion group and begin to track your carbon footprint!

This website is brought to us by 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, MG&E and UW-Madison's Center for Sustainability and the Global Environment.



Mpower Update: 2009 Mpower Business
ChaMpions Selected

We are proud to announce the selection of seven area businesses into the Mpower Business Champions program: Webcrafters Inc., Great Big Pictures Inc, Sergenian's Floor Coverings, The Payroll Company, Capitol Insurance Companies, designCraft Advertising and JJR. These local businesses range from 4 employees to over 600 employees and collectively occupy over 539,800 sq ft of building space.

Each of the Mpower Business Champions will receive one-on-one assistance to take significant steps towards reducing their carbon footprint. For details visit http://www.mpoweringmadison.com/mchampions. We applaud each business on their enthusiasm and commitment to this process and look forward to sharing all we learn with you!

The effort is made possible through a two-year grant from the EPA, sponsorship from several area organizations including MG&E and Alliant Energy, and partnership with Focus On Energy, Rapid Improvement Associates, EnAct, UW- SHWEC and The Madison Water Utility among others.



Madison Marathon - Mpowered

More than 6,000 runners will descend upon Madison on Memorial Day weekend for the Madison Marathon.  Every year the staff implements new systems to lessen any negative environmental impact of the Madison Marathon on our beautiful city. The Madison Marathon is recognized as a "Runner's World" GreenTeam race and they’re FitPlanet.com approved.

This year’s new efforts include offering biodegradable race bags to all participants, moving the start and finish line to the same location to avoid shuttling runners and spectators in buses, and teaming with Mpowering Madison to help runners take the pledge to run green. Visit the Mpowering Madison booth at the Madison Marathon expo on Saturday, May 23 at the Exhibition Hall at Alliant Energy Center.  The expo runs from 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. View the full list of Madison Marathon green efforts.



Don’t miss out on Sustainability at the 8th
Annual International Bioethics Forum

The 8th Annual International Bioethics Forum in Madison, WI on Thursday and Friday, April 23-24, will focus on sustainability.

Featuring a series of keynote speakers and discussion sessions, the Bioethics Forum is designed to provide the public with access to accurate scientific information and discussion of related social and ethical issues. 

This year's program is designed to allow participants to explore these questions:
  • How do we define sustainability and what are the causes of unsustainability?
  • What are the most relevant technologies for us to understand? 
  • How are various sectors and organizations responding to these issues, e.g. governmental units, research/educational institutions, businesses and faith communities?
  • What is the role of the individual decision-maker?  Does what one person does - or does not do - matter?


Mpower’s favorite “Earth Day
Guides”

National Geographic Earth Day Guide
Tree Hugger Earth Day Guide

Have a favorite Green Guide? Email in to info@mpoweringmadison.com and it will
be posted in the "April eMail 09” page