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Procuring renewable energy is a highly impactful step your institution can take to reduce its carbon footprint and negative health impacts. The cost of renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar, has fallen dramatically in recent years, and accessing them is easier than ever making a shift to renewables much simpler and more cost effective than in the past. This resource includes the issues and opportunities around renewable energy procurement, how to get started, as well as how Practice Greenhealth can help you.
Type: Resources
Part of Impact purchasing commitment: Getting started guides
A brief overview of our purchasing commitment's seven core sustainability goals.
Type: Resources
Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a problematic plastic because it requires additives such as plasticizers like diethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), among others, and generates chemicals of concern throughout its life cycle – from manufacture, through use and disposal – resulting in potentially hazardous exposures to those chemicals in the workplace, in communities, and in some patients.
We have worked with hospital and health system members to identify high-priority product categories as defined by life cycle impacts, the potential for the release of toxic chemicals into the environment, exposures to… Read More
Type: Resources
Part of Purchasing Commitment: Getting started guides
Over the years, many products in the operating room setting have transitioned to single-use, disposable products, due to convenience, low cost, and infection prevention concerns. The process has led to significant volumes of plastics and other waste, often with little or no available recycling markets. While the upfront price tag of a reusable product may seem more expensive compared to a disposable product, a life cycle cost analysis or total cost of ownership - which takes into account considerations such as production/manufacturing,… Read More
Type: Resources
Part of Impact purchasing commitment: Getting started guides
Every day, patients and employees are exposed to a wide array of chemicals in hospitals and health care facilities, and the priority chemicals of concern have been shown to have a lasting negative impact on individual health, public health, and the environment. Furnishings can be a significant contributor to poor health in interior spaces, like hospitals, with chemicals migrating out into dust, food, air, water, and ecosystems during their life cycle. Additionally, if harmful chemicals are used to make furnishings, communities… Read More
Type: Resources
Many hospitals and health systems face transportation challenges, including:
Existing parking structures for employees and visitors are at maximum capacity and costly expansions aren’t feasible.
Idling ambulances and delivery trucks are wasting fuel, increasing hospital fuel costs and the overhead costs for supplies.
Excess emissions from idling vehicles and employee single-vehicle commuters flow into the surrounding environment, where employees, visitors, neighbors, and patients breathe them in – a huge health concern, as vehicle emissions contain particulates linked to lung damage,… Read More
Type: Basic page
Part of Impact purchasing commitment: Getting started guides
Hospitals are energy-intensive, using 2.5 times more energy per square foot than a typical office building. The burning of fossil fuels drives both air pollution and climate change, with outdoor air pollution killing over 4.5 million people each year globally. Renewable electricity can replace power from fossil fuels – improving health, reducing climate impacts, and potentially reducing energy costs and price risks.
Smart energy buyers are developing clean energy portfolios that combine strategies, such as onsite solar and… Read More
Type: Resources
The Impact Purchasing Commitment (IPC) launched with the support of 12 health systems and was designed by the Healthcare Anchor Network in partnership with Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth.
What we buy matters. Sustainability professionals and purchasing managers can work together to embed sustainability into purchasing processes and engage suppliers and group purchasing organizations to provide innovative, sustainable products and services with a reduced impact on human health and the environment.
Practice Greenhealth has more than two decades’ experience identifying the… Read More
Type: Toolkit
Part of Impact purchasing commitment: Getting started guides
The way our food is produced, processed, transported, made available for consumption, and consumed has profound impacts on environmental, public, and individual health. At each point in the food system, there are opportunities to support the health of workers, eaters, and the biological systems on which health depends. As large, mission-driven institutions, hospitals are uniquely poised to assert purchasing standards that support local and sustainable food systems for a greater cumulative impact on human and public health.
Type: Resources
These questions to ask during the RFP process will help make informed decisions when purchasing sustainable electronics.
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 1,700 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.