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Our cars, our health
The American Lung Association’s 19th annual “state of the air” report found that 134 million Americans – more than 41% – lived in counties with unhealthy levels of either ozone or particulate pollution in 2014-2016. In a country with over 270 million vehicles, America’s air suffers from tailpipe pollution. Health impacts of air pollution include asthma and respiratory illness, heart disease and stroke, cancer, low birth weights due to reproductive toxicants, premature death, and traffic morbidity and mortality. In Massachusetts, where one in 11 people already suffer from… Read More
Type: Press
UW Health quietly pushed forward since its 2017’s big achievement in LEED Gold for the American Center, a first for Wisconsin and one of 17 in the United States. Commitments to continue conservation have increased with formal targets in water intensity reduction by 5% across the portfolio of buildings, having seven buildings that meet or exceed the EnergyStar score of 75, all while completing direct and indirect (scope I and scope II) emissions inventory that account for fleet vehicles, anesthetic gas, energy utility purchases, and more.
“Our highly engaged staff is key to our success,”… Read More
Type: Press
Reducing energy waste and procuring renewable energy are some of the most effective steps that our member hospitals are taking to reduce their environmental impact and protect community health. There are many reasons energy should be an area of focus:
Inpatient health care is ranked by EPA as the second-largest commercial energy user in the United States.
Health care facilities consume close to 10% of the total energy used in U.S. commercial buildings and spend more than $8 billion on energy every year.
The health care sector is responsible for 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
The… Read More
Type: Basic page
This living wall covers an impressive amount of space giving occupants a moment and area of respite.
By Iqbal Mian, Practice Greenhealth member engagement manager
Being in driving proximity to the Mayo Clinic’s Rochester campus gave me the perfect opportunity to intimately understand the organization’s sustainability efforts during a planned onsite visit at the end of June.
Amanda Holloway, Office of Sustainability director, and Ashlyn White, sustainability fellow, gave a stage to present to a diverse audience of nurses, physicians, and departmental staff on the environmental… Read More
Type: Press
The 12 health systems announced signing the Impact Purchasing Commitment (IPC) to build healthy, equitable, and climate-resilient local economies through how they spend their dollars. The commitment directs health care purchasing toward industries that decrease their carbon footprint, produce safer products and services, and grow economic opportunities for people of color- and women-owned businesses by at least $1 billion over five years.
“The health care sectors’ oath to ‘do no harm’ cannot solely focus on treating the mass of patients descending through their doors amidst a pandemic,… Read More
Type: Press
Hospitals and health systems around the world are investing in clean, renewable energy to protect the health of their patients and communities, attract and retain top-tier talent, increase the resilience of their operations to disasters, and reduce energy costs and price volatility. Combining renewable energy with electricity storage can help hospitals remain operational during extreme weather or other disruptions to the electric grid.
According to the EPA, renewable energy includes resources that rely on fuel sources that restore themselves over short periods of time and do not diminish.… Read More
Type: Resources
Hospitals and other institutions through the United States are leveraging their food service operation to support environmental and human health.
By creating a sustainable food service vision statement and policy, hospitals move from isolated projects, sustained by the interest and involvement of a few staff, to a formal framework for understanding and making progress.
Conducting an inventory or assessment before setting the policy and plans is recommended as part of this process in order to include effective goals, benchmarks and tracking, and performance systems.
Adoption of a… Read More
Type: Basic page
Carpet can negatively impact the indoor environment and the employee and patient experience in your facility. Some volatile organic compounds that can be released from the carpet into the indoor air are carcinogens or reproductive and developmental toxicants. Other hazardous chemicals can contaminate indoor dust, resulting in exposures. Workers in carpet manufacturing and recycling facilities can be exposed to carcinogens, asthmagens, and reproductive and developmental toxicants.
Choosing healthier recyclable carpet can:
Decrease patient, staff, and visitor exposures to harmful chemicals… Read More
Type: Basic page
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
By Gary Cohen, Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm president
2017 has been a year of uncertainty. We saw some of the largest demonstrations in modern history, including the Women’s March, the People’s Climate March, and the March for Science. At the same time, it felt like the planet held its own demonstration.
In just over six weeks, the United States and surrounding areas were hit by four major hurricanes. The estimated costs for hurricanes Harvey and Irma combined are between $150-200 billion. Puerto Rico still has half of the island without power. On the other side of the… Read More
Type: Press
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.