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Composting landscape and food waste is a viable waste reduction strategy for many hospital and health systems. Long-term benefits of compost programs for hospitals might include:
Reduces incineration or landfill disposal costs for dense and heavy landscape and food scraps
Avoids costly extra water discharges from wastewater treatment due to food waste sludge created by industrial food disposal systems.
Saves landscaping budget by increasing water retention, aeration, and soil nutrients, which reduces mulch, fertilizers, and pesticide purchases.
Unneeded compost can potentially be sold or… Read More
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Hospitals are offering healthier menus, working with farmers to purchase locally and sustainably grown products, moving toward plant-forward menus, and going beyond their walls to help meet the food needs of their community in an effort to support the health of their patients, staff, surrounding community and the environment. Food service data can be complicated by the accessibility of the data and a number of different data owners.
Note: Please indicate on the application which areas of food service data is being collected from: patient meals, cafeteria, catering, and/or vending.
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As sustainability programs gain momentum and leadership support, send a clear message about the priorities of the program by setting targets or goals. Executive stakeholders will take the program more seriously if deliverables are managed and measured, similar to other programmatic initiatives within the organization. Specific, measurable, and time-bound (often referred to as SMART goals) will set the direction for staffing, capacity, and resource allocation resulting in improved performance and impact.
Practice Greehealth recommends addressing the following questions when setting… Read More
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Build healthier food environments for your patrons through education, promotion, and marketing of healthy foods and beverages at your facility.
Healthy food environments include the food itself – whole or minimally-processed – as well as community culture. Hospitals can promote community health by offering culturally-relevant, nourishing food that honors communities’ food traditions and protects against food-related chronic disease.
As promoters and protectors of community health, hospitals can use procurement and related strategies to foster healthy and resilient communities.
Sample… Read More
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Regulated medical waste, also called red bag waste, biohazard waste, or infectious medical waste is one of the most expensive waste streams to manage.
Though it can make up less than 8 percent of a hospital’s total waste production, it can cost more than 40 percent of their waste management budgets to handle.
Over the last 20 years, we’ve learned a lot about the impacts of regulated medical waste and its disposal from the hospitals we work with.
By narrowing down the scope of regulated medical waste into several sub-categories based on levels of risk they pose, hospitals can more narrowly… Read More
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The manufacture, use, and disposal of computers, imaging equipment (printers, copiers, fax, multi-functional devices [MFDs], scanners, digital duplicators), mobile phones, servers, televisions and their electronic accessories have a global adverse impact on human and environmental health. Electronics contain toxic heavy metals, halogenated flame retardants, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and many other chemicals of concern. Rapid changes in technology mean many of these products have short lives and are easier to dispose than to repair and upgrade.
Electronics goal
Specify, purchase and report… Read More
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Congratulations on winning a Practice Greenhealth Environmental Excellence Award and on your organization’s exemplary environmental stewardship.
In recognition of your dedication to environmental excellence and to help spread the word of this honor Practice Greenhealth plans to:
Announce all award winners on the Practice Greenhealth website.
Issue a press release about this year’s awards.
Share the news with other Practice Greenhealth members.
Promote across social media. Follow Practice Greenhealth on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Continue to share your stories of innovation, collaboration and… Read More
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Pharmaceutical waste can be classified as either regulated medical waste, solid waste, or hazardous waste, depending on regulations of a hospital’s state and locality. Regardless of the waste stream, our member hospitals have identified safe and responsible pharmaceutical waste disposal as a pressing challenge for several reasons:
Flushing and dumping, once common go-tos for disposal, are no longer best practice now that more and more evidence shows these discarded medications end up in groundwater.
More stringent regulations for controlled substances require additional attention to how… Read More
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Regulated medical waste, also called red bag waste, biohazard waste, or infectious medical waste is one of the most expensive waste streams to manage.
Though it can make up less than 8 percent of a hospital’s total waste production, it can cost more than 40 percent of their waste management budgets to handle.
Over the last 20 years, we’ve learned a lot about the impacts of regulated medical waste and its disposal from the hospitals we work with.
By narrowing down the scope of regulated medical waste into several sub-categories based on levels of risk they pose, hospitals can… Read More
Type: Basic page
Pest control in hospitals is important to maintain cleanliness and prevent the spread of disease. However, many pest control chemicals are toxic and can expose patients, staff, and visitors to harmful compounds, threatening health. Since hospitals are operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, there is no “after-business” window with reduced exposure risks to safely apply chemicals.
Hospitals looking to reduce the number of pest control chemicals used in their facilities are turning to integrated pest management programs that eliminate regularly scheduled pesticide applications. Instead,… Read More
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Join Practice Greenhealth
Practice Greenhealth is the health care sector’s go-to source for information, tools, data, resources, and expert technical support on sustainability initiatives that help hospitals and health systems meet their health, financial, and community goals.
Who We Are
Practice Greenhealth is the leading sustainable health care organization, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,500 hospitals and health systems in the United States and Canada. Partnership opportunities include hospitals, health systems, community health organizations, NGOs, nonprofits, government, academic institutions, and the health care value chain.