Nominations Open For 10th Sustainable Eau Claire Awards

individuals, initiatives, organizations and businesses can be nominated across a dozen categories

The City of Eau Claire’s Sustainability Advisory Committee is calling for nominations, pivoting to a spring nomination cycle with 12 categories for its 10th year. The Sustainable Eau Claire Awards initiative honored its inaugural awardees back in 2016, and over the years has changed its nomination categories a handful of times ...

The Sonnentag Center Rises to a New Level of Sustainability

working with UW–Eau Claire to power a one-of-a-kind clean energy facility

As the largest indoor event venue in northwestern Wisconsin, the Sonnentag Center is poised to be a critical community hub for generations to come. From the state-of-the-art fieldhouse to the Mayo Clinic sports medicine center to the large indoor arena, the Sonnentag is not making any compromises on amenities for the students and residents of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. And quietly powering the whole operation is an Xcel Energy solar array 13 miles away ...

Altoona's Energy Action Plan Sees Results

City of Altoona earns 2025 Energy Efficiency Excellence Award for efforts 'beyond basic energy-saving measures'

Altoona City Council passed the Altoona Energy Action Plan in 2023 — a project two years in the making — and it's making a positive impact. In a ceremony held at Altoona City Hall at the end of June, State Senator Jeff Smith and Commissioner Marcus Hawkins were present to see officials accept the award. Notable energy projects in Altoona included various upgrades – city water pumps are now more energy efficient, as are new city building lights – and its recent designation as a SolSmart ...

New Zero Waste Shop Flows Through Downtown Eau Claire

Riverflow Refillery supports all aspects of low-waste living through reuse products

Jordan Hauser, owner of the Riverflow Refillery, has embedded sustainability throughout many facets of her life. Riverflow Refillery (207 N Barstow St, Eau Claire) has a clear mission with direct impact on the consumers within the Chippewa Valley: to provide high-quality, sustainable products that prioritize the well-being of people and the planet, with mindful choices from production to packaging ...

Chippewa Sun Solar Array Jump-Starts Eau Claire's Carbon-Neutral Goal

26-acre solar array creates energy for City of Eau Claire, Pablo Group, and The Sonnentag Center

The Chippewa Sun solar array is located in the town of Hallie. The operation includes 26 acres of solar panels that will convert light energy into electricity for more than 1,300 homes in Hallie and its three subscribing partners. In Eau Claire, those three key partners include The Sonnentag Center, Pablo Group, and the City of Eau Claire ...

Sonnentag Earns Gold-Level ‘Green’ Rating

new event center is the largest facility in Wisconsin, Minnesota recognized by LEED

The Sonnentag Center, UW-Eau Claire’s brand new $122 million facility, is marking a new chapter for the school as well as the community in a variety of ways, including another “first” for the university: The Sonnentag is the first building used by UWEC that ...

Pledge to Be Plastic-Free: E.C. Businesses Take Steps to Limit Waste

Plastic-Free Eau Claire encourages individuals, businesses to take pledge

Wisconsin’s plastic-free movement: what is it? In a decisive step towards a greener future, Eau Claire embraced a bold initiative earlier this year with the Plastic-Free Eau Claire pledge. Since the ...

UW-Stout Earns Statewide Honor for Sustainability, Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency Excellence Award recognizes 79 energy-saving projects at Stout since 2017

For its collaboration and commitment to sustainability and energy efficiency in multiple campuswide initiatives in the last two decades, UW-Stout has received an Energy Efficiency Excellence Award from Focus on ...

E.C. County Solar Installations Work Toward 2050 Renewable Goal

new large solar arrays are now installed across three government facilities

With the final two of three large solar arrays officially installed at the new Highway, DHS Government Center, and Agricultural Center in Eau Claire County as of late June, the County is working its way through a series of renewable energy initiatives that were approved in 2021 and 2023 ...

NOD TO THE PAST, AN EYE TO THE FUTURE: Northern States Power-Wisconsin Celebrates 100 Years of Service

While locals recognize Xcel Energy’s operatin company, Northern States Power-Wisconsin, for reliably providing the energy to power our lives and keep our community chugging along, they may not realize its deep roots in the area date back to the turn of the century ...