Loll is proud member of 1% for the Planet, a global movement of companies donating at least 1% of their annual net revenues to environmental organizations worldwide. We’re grateful to be part of this group of businesses financially committed to keeping our planet blue and green. For our seventh year as a 1% member, we’re abiding by the theory of thinking globally and acting locally with our donations. We’re fortunate to be able to donate $73,000 to four local environmental organizations. A big thanks goes out to the groups listed below for their earnest environmental efforts, but also to our customers who make our donations possible in the most significant way. Loll’s 2015 1% for the Planet recipients Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores Cyclists of Gitchee Gumee Shores (COGGS) has been improving cycling opportunities in the Duluth, MN, area since 1994. Its current focus is a project called the Duluth Traverse, a 100+ mile network of multiuse trail for mountain biking and other human-powered travel. When finished, the Duluth Traverse will span the entire 26-mile-long city limits and be the nation’s longest single track trail system within an urban environment. Loll’s 2015 contribution (our second year in a row donating to COGGS) of $30,000 will go toward building a key link in the trail: a five-mile path between Hartley Park and Lester Park, which COGGS hopes to complete this summer. Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy (formerly Will Steger Foundation) This is the fifth year in a row we have donated to Climate Generation: A Will Steger Legacy (formerly Will Steger Foundation), which educates and empowers people to engage in solutions to climate change. This year’s contribution is going toward the Foundation’s two-year project Climate Minnesota: Local Stories, Community Solutions. The goal of this campaign is to increase public awareness of local climate change impacts and build community resiliency. A big part of Climate Minnesota includes convenings across the state, where the public can learn about local impacts, hear stories from community members, and help come up with real, place-based solutions. As part of our $15,000 donation this year, Loll is sponsoring convenings in Burnsville, Duluth, Virginia and Minnetonka.   Sustainable Twin Ports This is the fifth year in a row that Loll has donated to Sustainable Twin Ports, an organization working to further economic, environmental and social sustainability in Duluth, MN and Superior, WI, through education, networking and action. This year, we worked with Sustainable Twin Ports to create a scholarship that helps a small or emerging local business participate in the Sustainable Twin Ports’ 2015 Early Adopter sustainability training program, which trains companies on environmentally, economically and socially sustainable business practices. Named the “Loll Designs Sustainability Scholarship,” the grant covers half of the program cost for a business. Our contribution of $8,000 also included a donation to the Sustainable Twin Port’s general operating fund, separate from the scholarship. Our CEO Greg Benson at a ribbon cutting to announce the the Loll Sustainability Scholarship.   Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness A Minneapolis, Minnesota-based organization of 3,000+ members, Friends of the Boundary Waters Wilderness works to protect and restore the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW). The organization formed in 1976 to protect this vulnerable area and two years later steered legislation through Congress that brought full protection to the BWCAW. This is the seventh year in a row Loll has donated to Friends. We were honored to receive the organization’s annual Conservation Award in 2014. Our 2015 contribution of $20,000 will go toward the organization’s fight against the threat of sulfide mining, which could adversely affect not only the BWCAW but also areas in the watershed extending to Duluth, Lake Superior and beyond. All of us at Loll are excited to be able to contribute to environmental groups working every day to keep our planet blue and green. We look forward to seeing the progress these organizations make in the coming year – and we feel good knowing we’ve helped make it happen.