Sustainability

The Zoo is a Travel Green Certified Member. Travel Green organizations commit to sustainability in the following areas: education, community, energy efficiency, transportation, waste reduction, and water conservation.

The Zoo continuously works to reduce its energy consumption. Steps we’ve taken toward making that goal a reality include:

• Energy-efficient lighting, in which our current lights use 80% less electricity and last six times longer than the previous lights
• Using building management systems to increase efficiency
• Participating in the work of Milwaukee County’s Sustainability Task Force to create the Climate Action 2050 plan

Our motto is “what’s old is new!” The Zoo reuses countless items throughout its grounds each year. Hammocks for the bears, orangutans, and others are woven from old fire hoses from the Wauwatosa Fire Department. Employee clothing that has reached the end of its life is reused as towels and rags for the maintenance, environmental services, and grounds departments.

Each autumn since 2012, the Zoo collects, shreds, and turns fallen leaves into mulch for the spring. The Zoo also reuses downed wood from our forest trees, known as the Urban Wood program. Urban Wood has been used on projects throughout the Zoo, including the train trestle and cars, nature play area, Aviary, and the Jaguar habitat.

The Zoo encourages our guests to reuse as well! Guests will find water bottle refill stations in many locations on grounds. Our Concessions and Merchandise partner, SSA Group, offers refillable beverage cup options at some locations.

Handheld electronics collection
Along with EcoCell, we accept and recycle handheld electronic devices at the Zoo. This allows the rare earth minerals in the devices to be reused, and reduces the need to mine in gorilla habitats. This also raises funds for gorilla conservation projects! Bring your mobile phones, tablets and e-readers, smart watches, earbuds, digital cameras, and digital music players to the Zoo for recycling — they can be left with staff at Admissions or dropped in the collection bin in the Zoo main entrance.

Holiday lights collection
We accept holiday lights for recycling annually in December as part of our Wild Lights special event. Members of the public are welcome to drop off light strands at the Zoo until the January Family Free Day. Recycling lights keeps them out of landfills and allows materials to be reused — less space for landfills means more space for wildlife!

Recycling on Zoo grounds
The Zoo employs numerous recycling efforts throughout the grounds, in both our public and staff operations. Zoo guests can participate by depositing their Zoo Maps in collection bins at the exit and by recycling bottles and aluminum cans in Pepsi recycling bins throughout Zoo grounds.

Green is the new gold. The Zoo makes an effort to include native plants around its park-like grounds to reduce stormwater runoff and create ample beautiful green spaces for both native wildlife and guests. Rain gardens throughout the grounds catch runoff and work in conjunction with permeable pavers to replenish groundwater supplies rather than wasting it into storm drains. We also have a cistern collecting rainwater for reuse at the new Rhino Care Center. These efforts help prevent flooding, soil erosion, and pollution. 

Off the ground, atop our Karen Peck Katz Conservation Education Center lies a green roof. Plants on a green roof absorb rainwater, provide habitat for wildlife and naturally cool and insulate the building below them. On top of all of this, green roofs can increase the life of a conventional roof by 20 years, reducing waste on that front as well.

Currently, we use leaf mulch from leaves collected on grounds to amend Zoo planted beds, and our waste hauler handles plant material waste separately from other waste. We also take some of our animal wastes to be composted offsite, reducing the amount that goes to landfill.

The Zoo’s Concessions and Merchandise partner, SSA Group, works with several local providers for food and beverage operations.

The Zoo’s Animal Enrichment Gardens, located by the Apes, Hippo, and former Small Mammals building, grow fresh produce for our animals on site. Enrichment is about enhancing as many aspects of our animals’ lives as possible, including giving them opportunities to interact with nutritious and stimulating foods that keep their minds active and healthy. We grow many different types of plants for our animals to shred and interact with, rub in the scented plants, and experience the different textures, smells, and tastes of various fruits, vegetables, herbs, grasses, and flowers.

The Zoo’s Concessions and Merchandising partner, SSA Group, is focusing on the reduction of plastic waste and responsible purchasing by:

• Eliminating single-use plastic bags in our Gift Shop 
• Replacing single-use plastic straws with paper straws in our concession stands
• Working with toy manufacturers at a national level to eliminate plastic packaging from toys wherever possible
• Offering unique items made from repurposed and upcycled materials in Zoo gift shops and kiosks
• Switching our most popular plush animals to be filled with PET plastics, made from recycled bottles
• Installing bulk oil filtration systems at some cafés to reduce the number of plastic jugs put in landfills
• Eliminating all Styrofoam products and bleached napkins in concession stands and dining areas
• Using plant-based, biodegradable products for all beer cups, coffee cups, bowls and plates
• Reducing sales of products containing palm oil, as the harvesting of palm oil leads to deforestation and destruction of wildlife habitats

With these initiatives, the Zoo will save the following from landfills and habitats each year: 

• Over 60,000 plastic bags
• Over 80,000 plastic straws
• Over 1,000 plastic jugs
• Over 7,000 pieces of plastic packaging from toys in Gift Shop
• Over 400,000 aluminum beverage cans
• Over 500,000 plastic beverage bottles