Join your friends and neighbors in a Natural Step Study Circle, beginning this June. It’s the BEST way to learn more about sustainable living and sustainable communities. And a GREAT way to meet new people. No tests or pop quizzes, no dress codes, no demerits, and no grades. There are once-per-week meetings, invigorating conversations, enthused citizens, a celebratory ”graduation” pot-luck, and a great book to ground it all. Sign up NOW!

Continue reading Summer Study Circles!...

Green Tuesdays: Films & Lectures on Sustainability returns to the Monona Public Library this Spring and Summer, bringing enlightening and entertaining lectures, films, and conversations on sustainable living. Most events will be held from 6:00 - 8:30 pm in the Monona Public Library (1000 Nichols Road, Monona).
The series is presented by The Natural Step Monona […]

Continue reading Green Tuesdays Return!...

Looking out at Lake Monona’s 28 billion gallons of water, canoing through the Monona Wetlands Conservancy, and watching the 100-plus inches of snow pile up since December — Monona seems so water-rich it’s easy to take our water supply for granted. You wouldn’t think we need to worry about our life-sustaining water. But we do.

Continue reading Taking steps to save our water...

So much of what we discard starts as an upstream problem, but we’re trying to fix it with downstream solutions. Instead of trying to pull the trash out of the stream, we need to not put it in the stream in the first place.

Continue reading Reducing waste…upstream...

Suppose everyone uses ten plastic shopping bags per week, or roughly 500 bags per year. With about 8,000 people in Monona, plastic bag use for our city would be 4,000,000 bags. Four million bags in one year!

Continue reading Bagging the bag...

We do not inherit this land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children. In the tiniest of nutshells, this Haida Nation saying is a definition of sustainability. What it doesn’t say, it implies: we should take great care of the earth so the generations that follow are able to meet their needs to […]

Continue reading Sustainability starts with learning...

When you learn to read, you begin with ”A, B, C.” When you learn to lead a greener life, you begin with ”Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” the three ”R’s” of the School of Sustainability.
At last week’s Green Tuesday event at the Monona Public Library, people gathered to watch the film Escape from Affluenza, learning how to […]

Continue reading Water, water (bottles) everywhere...

Our planet is a magical place. Leaves drop from trees to be transformed into fertile earth. Rainwater feeds the flora and then does a disappearing act into the soil, replenishing deep aquifers that provide fresh water. Vegetables, trees, grasses, fruits, and flowers sprout from tiny seeds like rabbits pulled from a hat. Without a wave […]

Continue reading Keeping our community magical...

”In the next month we will be bludgeoned with mixed messages. On one side we
have the movement to consume less and decrease our carbon footprint. We keep
hearing on the news and in the media that we should behave in […]

Continue reading Green Holiday Ideas...

Members of The Natural Step Monona team collaborated with Monona’s city cable channel to create a series of quick television spots on having a sustainable holiday season. Watch them here or on our YouTube Channel!

Continue reading TNS TV!...