Terms & Conditions

Last updated: October 14, 2026

1. About these terms

These Terms & Conditions (“Terms”) form an agreement between you and the operators of Sustainable Fox Valley (sustainfv.org) (“Sustainable Fox Valley,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). They apply when you visit or use sustainfv.org (the “Site”), create an account, subscribe to our newsletter, submit a message or other content, or buy a product or service through our online shop.

By using the Site or placing an order, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site. These Terms incorporate the following policies, which also apply to you:

• Privacy Policy — how we handle personal information.
• Cookie Policy — how we use cookies and how to manage your consent.
• Refund, Return & Cancellation Policy — returns of kits and cancellation of services.
• Disclaimer — the limits of our educational content.
• DMCA Policy — how to report copyright concerns.

If there is a conflict between these Terms and a specific policy, the more specific policy controls for that topic. If we sign a separate written agreement with you, for example a scope of work for a municipal consultation, that agreement controls where it differs from these Terms.

2. Who we are

Sustainable Fox Valley is an independent community-education project based in the Fox Cities, Wisconsin. It carries forward the mission of the original grassroots Sustainable Fox Valley initiative: helping households, businesses, organizations, and municipalities across the Fox Valley build a healthy local future. We are not a government agency, utility, or registered charity, and payments to us are purchases of goods and services, not donations. You can reach us at [email protected].

3. Eligibility

You must be at least 18 years old, or the age of majority where you live, to create an account or buy anything from the Site. If you buy on behalf of a business, nonprofit, school, or local government, you confirm that you are authorized to bind that organization to these Terms, and “you” includes that organization. Younger readers are welcome to read our articles with a parent, guardian, or teacher.

4. Using the Site

We grant you a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable permission to access and use the Site for your own non-commercial, informational, and educational purposes, and to buy products and services we offer. You agree not to:

• Use the Site in any way that breaks the law or infringes anyone’s rights.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site, other users’ accounts, or our servers, or interfere with security features, including our firewall.
• Upload or transmit viruses, malware, or any code designed to damage or disrupt the Site.
• Use automated tools (bots, scrapers, crawlers) to collect content or data from the Site in bulk, other than search engines indexing public pages in accordance with our robots.txt file.
• Use the Site’s content to train artificial intelligence or machine-learning models without our written permission.
• Send spam, unsolicited advertising, or misleading messages through our forms.
• Impersonate any person or organization or misrepresent your affiliation with anyone.
• Place orders using payment methods you are not authorized to use, or place fraudulent orders.
• Harass, threaten, or abuse us or anyone delivering our services.

We may suspend or block access to the Site, including through automated security tools, if we reasonably believe you have broken these rules or put the Site or other users at risk.

5. Accounts

You may check out as a guest or create an account. If you create an account, you agree to provide accurate information, keep it up to date, keep your password confidential, and tell us promptly at [email protected] if you suspect unauthorized use. You are responsible for activity under your account unless it results from our failure to take reasonable security measures.

You may close your account at any time by emailing us. We may suspend or close an account that has been used to break these Terms, that appears to be compromised, or that has been inactive for an extended period. Closing an account does not cancel orders already placed or erase records we must keep by law, as explained in our Privacy Policy.

6. Products and services we offer

Our shop offers two kinds of items:

We try to describe every product and service accurately, including what is included, dimensions, and capacity. Photos are illustrative, and colors or minor design details of kit components may vary slightly from what is pictured, depending on supplier availability. If a kit component becomes unavailable, we may substitute an item of equal or better quality and function, and we will tell you before shipping if the substitution is significant.

Services are educational and advisory. They are not licensed engineering, architectural, electrical, legal, financial, or tax services, and they do not replace inspections, permits, or advice from licensed professionals. See section 12 and our Disclaimer.

7. Orders and order acceptance

When you place an order through WooCommerce, you make an offer to buy the items in your cart at the listed price. You will receive an automatic email confirming that we received your order. That email is not acceptance. A contract is formed when we ship a physical kit, or when we confirm a service booking by email, whichever applies.

We may decline or cancel any order, or limit quantities, for reasons including: the item is unavailable; there is an obvious error in price or description; we cannot ship to the address given; we cannot deliver a service in your area or on the dates requested; we suspect fraud or unauthorized payment; or the order breaks these Terms. If we cancel an order after you have paid, we will refund the full amount you paid for the cancelled items to your original payment method.

Please check your order carefully before submitting it. If you notice a mistake, email us at [email protected] as soon as possible. We can usually change an order that has not yet shipped or been scheduled.

8. Pricing and taxes

• Currency. All prices are in US dollars.
• Price changes. We may change prices at any time, but changes will not affect orders we have already accepted.
• Errors. If an item is listed at an incorrect price because of a typographical or technical error, we may cancel the order and refund you, or contact you to ask whether you want to proceed at the correct price.
• Taxes. Sales tax is calculated at checkout where we are required to collect it, based on the delivery address for kits or the location where a service is provided. You are responsible for any other taxes or duties that apply to your purchase.
• Shipping charges. Shipping costs for physical kits are shown at checkout before you pay.
• Service pricing. Listed service prices cover the scope described on each product page. For example, the Natural Step workshop is a half-day session for up to 20 participants. Additional participants, extra sessions, travel beyond the Fox Cities area, or added scope will be quoted in writing and agreed before any additional charge.

9. Payment

We accept the payment methods displayed at checkout. Payments are processed by third-party payment processors, which handle your card or account details under their own terms and privacy policies. We do not store full card numbers on our Site. By submitting payment information, you confirm that you are authorized to use the payment method and you authorize us, through the processor, to charge the total shown at checkout.

Payment is due in full at checkout unless we agree otherwise in writing. For the Municipal Sustainability Planning Consultation or other larger engagements, we may agree in writing to accept a deposit with the balance invoiced later, or to accept payment by invoice for public bodies that require purchase orders. Invoices are due within 30 days unless the invoice states otherwise.

If a payment is declined, reversed, or charged back, we may suspend delivery of the related product or service. If you believe a charge is wrong, please contact us before disputing it with your bank; we can usually resolve billing problems quickly.

10. Shipping of physical kits

• Where we ship. We ship physical kits only to addresses within the United States. Because some kits are large, such as the 55-gallon Rain Barrel Kit, certain items may not be available for delivery to every location, including some addresses in Alaska, Hawaii, US territories, or PO boxes. If we cannot ship to your address, we will tell you and refund your order.
• Local pickup. If local pickup in the Fox Cities is offered at checkout, we will email you to arrange a time.
• Processing time. We aim to ship in-stock kits within 3 to 5 business days after your order is accepted. If an item is backordered, we will tell you the expected date and you may cancel for a full refund before it ships.
• Delivery estimates. Delivery times quoted at checkout or by carriers are estimates and are not guaranteed. We are not responsible for carrier delays, but we will help you track and resolve delivery problems.
• Title and risk. Title and risk of loss pass to you when the kit is delivered to the shipping address you provided. If a package is lost in transit before delivery, we will work with the carrier and send a replacement or refund.
• Damaged or missing items. Please inspect your kit on arrival and report damage or missing parts within 14 days, with photos if possible. Our Refund, Return & Cancellation Policy explains how we handle replacements and returns.
• Address accuracy. You are responsible for providing a complete, correct shipping address. If a package is returned to us because of an incorrect address or a refused delivery, we may charge the cost of reshipping or deduct return shipping from your refund.

11. Scheduling, rescheduling and cancellation of services

11.1 Scheduling

After you buy a service, we will email you within 3 business days to arrange a date and time and to explain any preparation needed. For example, before a Home Energy & Waste Assessment we may ask you to gather recent utility bills and take a few photos, and before a workshop we will ask about your group, venue, and goals. Bookings are confirmed only when we email you a confirmation.

The Home Energy & Waste Assessment is delivered virtually by video call; you are responsible for a working internet connection and device. In-person workshops are delivered at a venue you provide within the Fox Cities area unless we agree otherwise; you are responsible for providing a safe, accessible space suitable for the number of participants. Workshops may also be delivered online by agreement.

If you do not schedule a service within 6 months of purchase despite our reasonable efforts to contact you, we will email you a final reminder. If we still cannot agree on a date, we will refund the purchase price minus any preparation work already completed, as described in our Refund, Return & Cancellation Policy.

11.2 Cancellation and rescheduling by you

The full rules are in our Refund, Return & Cancellation Policy. In summary:

11.3 Cancellation or changes by us

We may need to reschedule a service because of illness, severe weather (a real possibility during a Wisconsin winter), venue problems, or other circumstances beyond our control. If we cancel or reschedule, you may choose a new date or receive a full refund for the affected service. We are not responsible for other costs you incur because of a cancellation, such as venue hire or travel, except where the law requires otherwise.

11.4 Your responsibilities during services

Service outcomes depend on accurate information. You agree to provide information that is accurate to the best of your knowledge and to tell us about anything that may affect the service, such as accessibility needs of workshop participants. Recommendations are based on the information available at the time and are offered for your consideration; decisions about what to do, and any work you carry out, remain your responsibility.

12. Educational content and no professional advice

Articles, guides, calculators (including the footprint calculator), workshop materials, and assessment reports are provided for general education. They are not professional engineering, electrical, structural, legal, financial, investment, or tax advice. Energy savings, payback periods, and incentive amounts are estimates that depend on many factors we cannot control, and incentive programs change often. Always confirm current rebates with Focus on Energy and your utility, and consult licensed professionals and your local building department before electrical work, roof work, structural changes, or major purchases. Our Disclaimer explains this in more detail, including important safety guidance for do-it-yourself projects.

13. Intellectual property

The Site and its content, including text, articles, graphics, logos, page designs, workbooks, facilitator guides, workshop materials, assessment templates, and the selection and arrangement of content, are owned by us or used under license, and are protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. Some images on the Site are used under Creative Commons or other open licenses and remain the property of their creators; those images are credited on our Image Credits page and are subject to their own license terms.

References to The Natural Step framework describe a publicly available sustainability framework developed by The Natural Step organization. “The Natural Step” is used to identify that framework, and its use does not imply that The Natural Step organization endorses us or our services.

You may:

• Read, download, and print pages for personal, non-commercial use, or for internal educational use within your household, neighborhood group, study circle, school, or organization.
• Quote short excerpts with credit to Sustainable Fox Valley and a link to the original page.
• Share links to our pages freely.
• Use printed materials included in a kit you purchased (such as the participant workbooks in the Study Circle Starter Kit) for the group they were purchased for.

You may not, without our written permission, republish full articles, sell or commercially distribute our content, remove copyright or attribution notices, mass-reproduce workbooks or workshop materials, or present our content as your own. To ask for permission, email [email protected]; we are often happy to say yes to community and educational uses.

If you believe content on the Site infringes your copyright, please follow the process in our DMCA Policy.

14. Content you submit

You may send us content such as contact form messages, event suggestions, comments, project stories, or photos (“User Content”). You keep ownership of your User Content. By sending it to us for publication, for example a story you want featured on our Projects page, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, reproduce, edit for length and clarity, publish, and display it on the Site, in our newsletter, and in related educational materials, with credit to you if you request it. You can ask us to remove published User Content at any time, and we will do so within a reasonable time, though copies may remain in backups or in materials already distributed.

You confirm that you have the right to share your User Content and that it does not infringe anyone’s rights, contain personal information about others without their permission, or include anything unlawful, defamatory, hateful, or misleading. We may decline to publish, edit, or remove any User Content at our discretion. Messages sent privately through our contact form are not published.

If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them without any obligation to you.

15. Third-party links and resources

The Site links to outside websites and public resources, such as government agencies, utilities, extension services, and nonprofit organizations. We provide these links for convenience. We do not control those sites, are not responsible for their content, accuracy, or privacy practices, and are not affiliated with or endorsed by the organizations named unless we clearly say so. Your use of third-party sites is at your own risk and subject to their terms.

16. Disclaimers of warranties

We work hard to keep the Site accurate, available, and secure, but we provide the Site and its content “as is” and “as available.” To the fullest extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement, regarding the Site and its content. We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components, or that information on it is complete or current.

Physical kits are covered by any written warranty we provide with the product and by any manufacturer warranty passed through to you, and you have the return rights described in our Refund, Return & Cancellation Policy. Services will be performed with reasonable care and skill. Nothing in these Terms excludes warranties or consumer rights that cannot be excluded under applicable law, including Wisconsin law.

17. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law:

• We will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for lost profits, lost savings, lost data, or loss of goodwill, arising from or related to the Site, our content, or any product or service, even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages.
• We will not be liable for damage, injury, or loss resulting from work you or your contractors carry out based on our content or recommendations, including electrical, roofing, ladder, plumbing, excavation, or lifting work.
• Our total liability to you for all claims arising from or related to the Site, our content, or any product or service will not exceed the greater of (a) the amount you paid us for the product or service giving rise to the claim in the 12 months before the claim, or (b) one hundred US dollars (US$100).

These limits apply regardless of the legal theory, whether contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability, or otherwise. They do not limit liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud, or for anything else that cannot be limited under applicable law. Some states do not allow certain limitations, so some of these limits may not apply to you.

18. Indemnity

To the extent permitted by law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the operators of Sustainable Fox Valley, and anyone helping us deliver our services, from claims, damages, losses, and reasonable costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) brought by third parties that arise from: your breach of these Terms; your User Content; your misuse of the Site; or your violation of any law or the rights of another person. We will tell you promptly about any such claim and let you participate in the defense at your own cost.

19. Governing law

These Terms and any dispute arising from or related to them, the Site, or any purchase are governed by the laws of the State of Wisconsin, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply. If you are a consumer living outside Wisconsin, you may also have the benefit of mandatory consumer protection laws where you live.

20. Dispute resolution

1. Talk to us first. Most problems can be solved quickly. Before starting any formal proceeding, please email [email protected] with the subject line “Dispute,” a description of the problem, your order number if relevant, and the outcome you are seeking.
2. Good-faith negotiation. We will both try in good faith to resolve the dispute informally for at least 30 days after we receive your notice.
3. Small claims. If the dispute is not resolved, either of us may bring a claim in small claims court in Wisconsin, if it qualifies, or in the small claims court where you live.
4. Courts. Otherwise, any legal action must be brought in the state courts located in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, or the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, and you and we consent to the personal jurisdiction of those courts, unless the law of your home jurisdiction gives you a non-waivable right to bring the claim there.

To the extent permitted by law, any claim must be brought within one year after it arises, and claims must be brought individually rather than as a plaintiff or class member in a class or representative action. Nothing in this section prevents either of us from seeking urgent injunctive relief to protect intellectual property or the security of the Site.

21. Events beyond our control

We are not responsible for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control, such as severe weather, natural disasters, power or internet outages, carrier disruptions, supplier shortages, public health orders, or government action. If such an event affects your order or service, we will tell you as soon as we can and offer a new date or a refund for anything we cannot deliver.

22. Changes to the Site and these Terms

We may change, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Site, or any product or service, at any time. We may also update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date above, and for significant changes we will post a notice on the Site. Changes apply from the date posted, but they will not apply to orders accepted before the change. Your continued use of the Site after a change means you accept the updated Terms.

23. General

• Entire agreement. These Terms, the policies they incorporate, and any written agreement for a specific service are the entire agreement between you and us about their subject matter.
• Severability. If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect, and the unenforceable part will be enforced to the maximum extent permitted.
• No waiver. If we do not enforce a right right away, we have not waived it.
• Assignment. You may not transfer your rights under these Terms without our consent. We may transfer ours to someone who takes over operation of the Site, as long as your rights are not reduced.
• Notices. We may send notices to the email address associated with your order or account. You may send notices to [email protected].
• Headings. Section headings and the plain-English summary are for convenience and do not change the meaning of these Terms.

24. Contact us

Questions about these Terms, your order, or a booking? Contact the operators of Sustainable Fox Valley (sustainfv.org), Fox Cities, Wisconsin, at [email protected], or use our contact page. We aim to reply within a few business days.