Dane County aims to cut countywide greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030.

You can help us meet this important goal by becoming a Climate Ally.

Climate Allies help accelerate climate action in Dane County in a variety of ways. Allies:

• Share stories about your own efforts. Whether you do your part by biking to work or by choosing ENERGY STAR appliances at home, you can be an example and inspiration when you talk about your own efforts.
• Encourage others to take action. It makes a difference when you reach out to friends, your employer, your faith community, your local school and other community institutions. You can motivate others to be part of the solution.
• Support local climate leaders. Some entities in our communities are leading on climate action and you can let them know you appreciate their leadership.

Some Climate Allies are individuals working on their own to make change ; other Climate Allies are teams of people—a workplace green team or a faith-based stewardship committee, for example. Whether you want to make change happen on your own or with others, we are delighted to welcome you as a Climate Ally! We can accomplish more climate action faster working together.

When you join our Climate Ally program, you get access to webinars, toolkits, prizes and other resources that can help you encourage action. Climate Allies also have opportunities to help our Office plan future climate action initiatives. 

Join our Climate Ally efforts.

 

Share Your Stories

As humans, we constantly take cues from the people around us. If a friend tells me a new book is amazing, I am more likely to check out that book. If you see multiple friends raving about a new restaurant you are more likely to try that restaurant. Our behaviors, even installing solar energy, are contagious. That means you can inspire others to climate action by making your own actions more visible. 

There are probably a lot of things you have done to reduce your emissions. You might save energy at home, for example, or you might have a strategy for combining trips to reduce your driving. We want you to share your climate-positive practices with your social networks. Sustainability stories can create a virtuous circle: the more you talk about what you are doing, the more others will take action too!

Consider, for example:

• Ani participated in the Focus on Energy Home Performance program and cut her heating and cooling bills by 10%. 
• Jim bikes to work in good weather.
• Omar purchased an all-electric Nissan Leaf, eliminating his use of gasoline.
• Brandy purchased an electric lawn mower instead of a gas-powered mower. 
• Sue and Mary decided to purchase all-renewable electricity from their electric utility.
• Derek reduced his meat consumption by half, both to improve his health and to reduce his emissions.

These are all important climate action steps. AND in each of these cases, the person can increase their impact tenfold if they share their actions with their social networks. The actions you take matter; we can maximize the results by making those actions visible to the people around you.

For example:

• Ani could talk about how much more comfortable her house is after the home retrofit to friends over coffee.
• Jim could post a video about what he likes best about his bike ride on social media.
• Brandy could talk with neighbors about how much she likes her mower (which might well prompt her neighbors to comment on how quiet the electric mower is compared to their gas mowers!).
• Derek could share how his changed diet is affecting his health with friends at the gym.

Everyone has opportunities to talk about the benefits of their climate actions. (Even me--see the example on the right from my own Facebook page!) But be clear: this is not about lecturing others or shaming others for their choices. Make your sustainable actions more visible by talking about the benefits you see from your actions. Aim to start a conversation. You want friends to ask questions that enable them to take action, after all.

When you share your actions, include us in the sharing. If you share via social media, add #DaneClimateAlly to your post so that we see it. If you share in person, drop us a line about what you did. Every month we will recognize at least one Climate Ally who shared their story. 

Join our Climate Ally efforts.

 

Encourage Others to Act

You might have tried to motivate others to action before and maybe you were frustrated that people did not adopt the changes you recommended. 

As our Climate Ally, we will help you be more successful at encouraging others to action. In fact, you will have access to webinars and workshops focused on the science of behavior change. 

Change is difficult.  It works better when you:

• First, connect with the person—tell them why you care about their actions. 
  “I know how hard you work to provide for your family so I wanted to share with you some of the ways I’ve discovered to stop wasting energy. These strategies are enabling us to put money away for a family trip.”
  “This is my favorite pizza place and I want to see you guys in business forever—which is why I want to talk to you about ways you could increase profits and reduce expenses.” 
• Second, offer a specific first-step suggestion that is easy to do and has compelling benefits.
  “Businesses like yours can get an energy efficiency loan where the savings are greater than the repayment—so it will be positive cash flow from the beginning!”
  “I can help you identify some easy ways to reduce energy use at home and in your car; this is easy stuff that can save more than $100 per year.”

Where do you get those first-step suggestions?  From us, of course!  Every month we'll provide at least one easy action that delivers results. And as a Climate Ally you can access the library of past actions as well.  

Join our Climate Ally efforts.

 

Support Local Climate Leaders

In addition to inspiring change, it is important to provide positive reinforcement for the change that is already happening.

Numerous businesses, local governments and community groups in Dane County are taking action to address climate change. These entities are investing in clean energy solutions, reducing waste and leading by example.

Look for opportunities to recognize, thank and patronize local entities that are leading on climate action.

• Congratulate a local business on their solar installation.
• Email local officials to thank them for your community’s commitment to climate action.
• Tell a business that you picked them based on their climate commitments.
• Congratulate an entity on social media for their leadership.

Our interactive maps are a great source of information on local climate leaders.

• The Climate Champions map showcases businesses, local governments and community groups leading on a variety of emission-reducing strategies.
• The Clean Energy map showcases solar installations around Dane County.

Join our Climate Ally efforts.