Green Business Resources

Composting is a great way to tackle the food waste problem in the United States. Between 30-40% of trash is food waste.

Benefits

• Reduce trash costs
• Engage employees
• Encourage healthy lifestyles

Where do I start?

Do your research. Visit the links below to understand composting fundamentals.

• EPA - Home Composting
• DNR - Composting

Employee engagement is essential for the continued success of green practices in your business.

Start a Green Team

1. Email the Recycling and Solid Waste Office to discuss your sustainability goals.
2. Recycling and stormwater presentations at work
   • We will share with your employees through a 30 or 45 minute interactive presentation.  Pick a topic for a 30 minute Lunch N Learn presentation or two topics for a 45 minute presentation.

• • • Recycling
    • Green Cleaning and Household Hazardous Waste
    • Rain Barrels
    • Rain Gardens
    • Water Friendly Lawn Care Composting

Selecting Recycling Containers

• Choose recognizable containers
• • Container options
    • Recycle Away
    • Uline
    • Waste Wise
• • Pair recycling and trash containers together
• Place containers in high traffic areas where recyclables are generated
• • Copy room
  • Kitchen areas

The business recycling program is a free, non-regulatory assessment. Our goal is to help any type of business improve their bottom line and increase waste reduction efforts.

The benefits

• Reduce trash volume and costs
• Recycle more
• Unusual material disposal options

Request a visit

• Call (262) 896-8300, or email recycling@waukeshacounty.gov.
• Depending on the size of your business, the visit can last from 10 minutes to 1 hour. We will provide recommendations following the visit.

Signage in the office

• Contact your recycling hauler to learn more about materials that are acceptable.
• Post recycling guidelines near all recycling containers.

Every business has unique waste management needs. Use these resources to:

• Learn more about handling different materials
• Find disposal solutions
• Explore new recycling programs

Recycling Additional Materials and Beyond-the-Bin Recycling, 
explore other programs to achieve your waste diversion goals.

• Terracycle
  • Coffee bag and pod recycling
  • Zero waste boxes
• Americanchemistry.com

Establishing recycling programs ‘beyond the bin’ with employees

• Office writing utensils
• Plastic bags and film

Check out the Wisconsin Recycling Markets Directory (WRMD)

• Search for recyclers for product disposal and recycling

Want to get started? Contact the Waukesha County recycling office at recycling@waukeshacounty.gov.

Waste Management Hierarchy

The waste hierarchy ranks management strategies by their environmental impact. 

The hierarchy emphasizes "reduce, reuse, and recycle" as the key to sustainable materials management.

• Source Reduction & Reuse

The most preferred strategy of waste prevention

• Reuse and donate
• Bulk purchasing
• Reduce toxicity

Recycling & Composting

• Collecting used, reused, or unused items
• Sort and process raw materials. Remanufacture the recycled raw materials into new products
• Composting food scraps, yard trimmings and other organics

Energy Recovery

• The conversion of non-recyclable waste materials into useable heat, electricity or fuel

Treatment & Disposal

• Before disposal, treatment can help reduce the volume & toxicity of waste.  This may include physical, chemical and biological means.

Depending on the nature of your business environmental regulations may apply. The DNR has an Enviro-Check tool to help you with guidelines.

Clean Water Practices

Be mindful of winter snow removal and salting.

• • Check out this model contract for snow removal
  • Each ton of salt used results in an estimated $1,573 in damages to pavement, cars and entryway floors.  
  • Look for a contractor that is certified/trained in salting practices by checking the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s Smart Salting Level 1 Certification list. 
  • Using less salt in the winter will save you money in repairs, maintenance, and salt purchases.
• Take the Smart Salting training and certification course.  
  • Calculate and apply the appropriate amount of salt.
  • Learn proper documentation of your work for litigation protection.  
  • Find a Salt Wise class.  
• Use rain gardens to capture stormwater from rooftops or parking areas.
  • Visit the DNR website for more specific guidance on how to size and install a rain garden.
• Be mindful of your lawn and grounds maintenance. 
  
  • Look for a contractor that tests the soil and following recommended applications based on the soil test.  
  • Create a nutrient management plan for your turf.  
    • This is required in NR-151 for all areas of turfgrass 5 acres or larger.
  • Use fertilizer that adds potassium through potassium sulfate and not potash (potassium chloride).  
    • Fertilizers are a major source of chlorides in our environment and waterways.
• Plant native plants whenever possible.  
• Be sure to have the proper permits for any building projects.
  • The County does issue stormwater and erosion control permits in some areas of the County.  
  • Find permits and checklists online. 
• Find for ways to infiltrate water and reduce runoff, like green infrastructure.
• Consider participating in the DNR Green Tiers program.
  • Businesses are acknowledged that green their bottom line. 
• The Wisconsin Sustainable business program hosts the Green Masters Program.
  • Score your business and look for areas to improve.

Water and energy go together. Any time you can use less water, you will save money on your water and energy bill. Visit the EPA’s Watersense website for resources on saving water.

Outdoor Water Use
Businesses that have an irrigation system, check how it operates.  If it uses a timer consider replacing it with a soil moisture sensor system.  It will turn on when the soil moisture is low. Check the EPA’s Watersense website for more information. 

Rain barrels can be installed to capture runoff from the roof of your building and store it for watering flower baskets and other outdoor plants.

Water Consumption
If your business is on septic and you are planning a change of use or ownership, contact Waukesha County Environmental Health to start a Preliminary Site Evaluation (PSE) application. Completing a PSE is a required step for obtaining occupancy or a building permit.

Reducing Water Use

• Employee engagement is key
• Use employee feedback and ideas to create a plan
• Check with your local water utility
  • You may be eligible for a rebate for your water saving actions!