Tools and resources

Transition from single-use, disposables to reusables

• Sustainable procurement

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…

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Environmental Excellence Awards sample news items

• Awards

Here are two sample news stories as well as a brief description for each of Practice Greenhealth’s Environmental Excellence Awards. Feel free to use some or all of this content as you promote your win internally and externally. You can find additional resources, including award logos, on our website. If you have questions, please reach out to press@practicegreenhealth.org. Sample news story 1…

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2018 sustainability data

Practice Greenhealth’s data, collected from hospitals across the country, will assist hospitals in identifying key sustainability program opportunities by benchmarking their own program’s performance. The data is divided into 10 components of health care environmental stewardship programs: leadership, waste, chemicals, greening the operating room, food, environmentally preferable purchasing,…

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2019 sustainability data

• Benchmark Report

Practice Greenhealth collected and compiled extensive sustainability data from 327 hospitals to provide timely information to hospitals and health systems working to build environmental stewardship into their mission. The environmental performance data coming out of health care continues to substantiate the claim that sustainability initiatives can add value, reduce negative health and…

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High success through low RMW rates

• Regulated medical waste
• Fluid management systems
• Guide
• Greening the Operating Room

Regulated medical waste (RMW) is one area where continuous education, communication, assessment, and tracking are critical to maintaining low generation rates. Due to a surgical department’s very nature, it’s unlikely that RMW will ever be eliminated, but since as much as 30% of a facility’s RMW is from the operating room, it’s a great place to focus efforts. Practice Greenhealth and Healthier…

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Circles of Excellence overview

• Awards

The Circles of Excellence recognize up to 10 of the highest performing hospitals for each individual category of environmental performance including Leadership, Waste, Chemicals, Greening the OR, Food, Environmentally Preferable Purchasing, Energy, Water, Climate, Green Building. Winners are selected based on the highest scores within that category while also meeting a set of threshold criteria.…

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How Stony Brook University Hospital reduced pharmaceutical waste

• Case Study
• Stony Brook University Hospital
• Less Waste
• Waste

  The problem It is estimated that over 30 million people in the United States, or roughly 10% of Americans, have diabetes. About 30% of people who have been diagnosed with diabetes are managed with some form of insulin. Additionally, many critically ill hospitalized patients who have not been diagnosed with diabetes will require insulin while in the hospital. It is therefore no surprise that…

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Beaumont Health System: Reusable trocars

• Case Study
• Greening the Operating Room
• Medical Device Reprocessing

Beaumont Health System Royal Oak Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., worked with suppliers to reduce waste from the operating room by evaluating the use of reusable as alternatives to disposable surgical instruments. In 2013 Beaumont received a Partner for Change award from Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading health care membership community. Today Beaumont is a leader in sustainable health…

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Sample awards application: Food

• Food
• Awards

Health care organizations nationwide are offering healthier menus, working with farmers to purchase locally and sustainably grown products, reducing the amount of meat they purchase and serve, and going beyond their walls to help meet the food needs of their community, all in an effort to support the health of their patients, staff, surrounding community and the environment. Practice Greenhealth…

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Why smarter purchasing?

• Sustainable procurement

The health care industry wields significant purchasing power, representing 17 percent of the U.S. marketplace. However, some of the products marketed to the industry generate unnecessary waste, contain hazardous materials and use excessive energy. By choosing environmentally preferred medical products and equipment for use in hospital facilities, the health care sector can actually generate…

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