MILWAUKEE — The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) incentivizes local businesses and municipalities to reduce water pollution with its Green Infrastructure program.

The Coakley Brothers in Milwaukee is one of the businesses involved.

Daniel Stroven is the director of facilities and construction for the company. Stroven said over the years, they have been working to make their parking lot less concrete and more green space.

They’ve added things such as Wisconsin native species, rain gardens and an underground tank system.

The company can now store 212,000 gallons of water on their property.

“This was designed to capture and contain water in the soil to feed the plants and to not be pumped into Lake Michigan,” said Stroven.

Stroven believes the green infrastructure also makes the area more inviting.

“We felt that the beautification process that would also be environmentally friendly would be very helpful, both to the community and to our own employees who come here every day,” said Stroven.

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has helped fund projects like these for local businesses through its Green Infrastructure initiative.

MMSD Manager of Sustainability, Bre Plier, said their goal is to get to zero overflow, zero basin backups by absorbing 740 million gallons of water by 2035.

“Having partners like the folks here at Coakley’s step in and partner up with us, which normally wouldn’t be, you know, a sewer district and an organization like Coakley working together. It’s really great and really awesome to see that local businesses are putting money towards better environmental solutions and the health of our area,” said Plier.

Because of these infrastructure projects, MMSD awarded the Coakley Brothers a Green Luminary Award.

Stroven said it’s all about changing the outlook of the area.

“We need more grass, less concrete, less pavement. There’s nothing better than walking barefoot in lush green grass, and we need to give everybody that opportunity, and if we are the ones that are living here and working here, we have a responsibility to do that,” said Stroven.

That’s why Stroven believes every business should do what they can to improve and protect their local environment.