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Purchasing Resources
When procuring office supplies, opportunuities exist to find cost savings and products that contain one or more environmental attributes. Look for ways to reuse or reduce use of supplies, purchase with recycled content and avoid chemicals of concern - such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and antimicrobials.
Criteria
Mulitple criteria: Office Supplies, RFP/RFI Questions (recycled content, free of antimicrobials and PVC, low VOCs)
When specifying levels of recycled content, the minimum postconsumer recycled content cited should not be lower than EPA's Comprehensive… Read More
Type: Resources
Background
Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration illustrates that buildings are responsible for almost half of the energy consumed and 38 percent of all GHG emissions in the United States. According to the EPA, inpatient health care ranks as the second largest commercial energy user after the food service industry. The US Department of Energy notes that hospital energy costs rose 56 percent from $3.89 per square foot in 2003 to $6.07 per square foot in 2008, and predicts those costs will continue to rise in the near term[i]. Hospitals are also often the largest water users in… Read More
Type: Resources
(Greenhouse gas reduction toolkit) Climate change is the greatest public health threat and opportunity of the 21st century. To reduce the health impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be reduced, and hospitals have an essential role to play.
Solving health problems always starts with setting a goal. Establishing a clear, ambitious target can motivate staff and help drive strategies for success.
Practice Greenhealth developed resources to help hospitals and health systems track GHG emissions and set reduction goals. Here’s why:
The imperative: Climate change… Read More
Type: Resources
(Greenhouse gas reduction toolkit) Climate change is the greatest public health threat and opportunity of the 21st century. To reduce the health impacts of climate change, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions must be reduced, and hospitals have an essential role to play. Solving health problems always starts with setting a goal. Establishing a clear, ambitious target can motivate staff and help drive strategies for success. Practice Greenhealth developed resources to help hospitals and health systems track GHG emissions and set reduction goals.
Type: Resources
The adoption of a plumbed-in filtered water system into Partners HealthCare McLean Hospital, in Boston, has resulted in the elimination of plastic bottles. In the inpatient areas alone: The FY08 baseline water per patient day expense was $0.97. By FY2011, patient per day expense was reduced to $.02. Annual recurring savings estimated at $38,000 (comparing FY08 to subsequent years). The hospital has reduced plastic waste, and the wasted time and effort (ordering, delivering, stocking), storage space and expense associated with plastic water bottle use.
Type: Resources
Partners HealthCare, based in Boston, uses thousands of imaging products (ink and toner cartridges) for printing, copying, and faxing. Ink and toner cartridges, when not recycled usually end up in landfills. As part of its sustainability and Patient Affordability program, Partner’s sought to grow a closed loop manufacturing process in partnership with Roxbury Technology and to prevent cartridges from ending up in landfills.
Type: Resources
Critical access hospitals such as the 6-bed Vidant Bertie and the 49-bed Vidant Chowan in eastern North Carolina, can make significant improvements in waste reduction despite the relatively small volumes of waste they generate. By installing a recycling dumpster at Bertie and compactors at Chowan, EVS Manager Lizbeth White has seen a 34 percent decrease in cost of solid waste removal at one hospital and 63 percent volume reduction at another. Key waste reduction programs include replacing desk-side trash cans with recycling bins, 96 percent polystyrene elimination, and recycling 67 percent of… Read More
Type: Resources
Implement a construction and demolition debris recycling program for major renovations and new construction to achieve a recycling and diversion rate of at least 80 percent. Construction and demolition debris is bulky, non-compactable material generated during construction and renovation projects. This material includes ceiling tiles, bricks, glass, carpeting, cabinetry, cement and much more. Hospitals have demonstrated the financial and environmental value of reducing the amount of debris headed to landfills through reduction, reuse, and recycling.
Type: Resources
As a component of an application to apply for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification for a new construction project, Anne Arundel Medical Center, a regional health system headquartered in Annapolis, Md., set a goal to achieve a 50 to 75 percent diversion rate of demolition and construction debris. The medical center enrolled in our Less Waste Challenge and set a goal for construction and demolition debris recycling. The project team incorporated diversion and recycling specifications in construction management contracts and tracked and reviewed progress regularly.… Read More
Type: Resources
(Less waste toolkit) Because regulated medical waste (RMW) or red bag waste can cost between five to 10 times more than solid waste, over-use of red bag waste receptacles is like throwing away dollars. Depending on current practices, hospitals have saved thousands, tens of thousands and even hundreds of thousands of dollars by addressing container over-use. If a facility generates more than 10 percent RMW, reducing this waste is a worthwhile priority due to the potential cost savings. In fact, CDC suggests that only three to five percent of hospital waste requires disposal as RMW. This step-… Read More
Type: Resources
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.