By Jessica VanEgeren
Madison Magazine
Special To Channel 3000

For most who call Madison home, environmental awareness and preservation are far from foreign concepts. They are well-established ways of life. Yet, until recently, environmental stewardship largely stopped at the front doors of our homes, businesses and public buildings. There was little thought on how to better connect where we worked, lived and played with the natural world around us. Now, another movement is gaining momentum, one that fuses the city's rich environmental past with new, green ways to build, save energy or even drive around town.

Leading by example is the downtown business community. A plethora of innovative projects have begun to pop up, proving that sustainable economic development and energy efficiency are not only good for the environment, but also good for a company's image and bottom line.

"Madison is blessed with beautiful lakes, big trees and community gardens," says downtown business owner Sonya Newenhouse, president of Madison Environmental Group and founder of Community Car. "We're now in a movement that realizes we can't just appreciate our natural beauty. We need to complement that beauty by using the space around us in more responsible ways."

When Community Car began operating in 2003, it was the first car sharing program in the Midwest. At the time, there were twenty charter members and a three-car fleet. Now, consumers from downtown residents and college students to companies looking to provide employees with a convenient perk are paying their dues to rent time in a community car. Membership has skyrocketed to more than five hundred, and the fleet has grown to eleven vehicles.

"It's a way for businesses to align themselves with a movement and show their greener side," says Amanda White, the company's executive director. "It's cheaper than having a company car, and it's more convenient, especially downtown where parking is at a premium."

From learning ways to control storm-water runoff to tracking down manufacturers of dozens of green-building products, downtown employer Jim Bradley spent plenty of time over the past several years studying up on how to make Home Savings Bank's newest branch green. (Bradley also operates a Capitol Square branch at W. Washington and S. Carroll.)

To continue reading, visit MadisonMagazine.com.