Tools and resources

Health Care GHG Emission Reduction Action Plan Template

• Climate and Health

Create an action plan to reduce your hospital or health care facility's GHG emissions by identifying and prioritizing possible interventions. Identify interventions by scope, activity, or category and estimate the costs and savings of each intervention in terms of dollars, the return on investment (ROI), or reduction in metric tons of carbon-dioxide-equivalent (MTCO2e), an industry standard…

Learn More

Sutter Health: Food recovery for healthier communities

“Not only does this project impact greenhouse gasses from keeping food waste out of the landfill, it is also about dollars saved, which is important to hospital administrators, and then there is the food rescue piece which is what is really important to our community.” –  Jack Breezee, Sutter Health regional director of food and nutrition services Sutter Health knew they were wasting food…

Learn More

Green benefits: Implementing employee perks in your organization

Recruitment, retention and satisfaction is on the mind of health care leaders. 2018 marked an 18.5 percent turnover rate in the health care sector, the highest rate in a decade. Last year, 24 percent of new hires left within a year. High turnover combined with health care growth is creating staffing gaps, which impact the bottom line. The average cost for one replaced health care worker is $60,…

Learn More

Questions for suppliers about fair and safe labor practices

• Food
• Sustainable procurement

For hospitals unable to access any of the recommended certifications for a valued workforce, Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth have created a list of questions to ask food suppliers. Although these questions are most appropriate for direct purchases, we encourage you to consider how they might apply to distributors and other intermediaries. Learn more about ethical food…

Learn More

Selling the sizzle: Naming and marketing your plant-forward recipe

• Health Care Culinary Contest
• Marketing

[Plant-Forward Future] You are ready with delicious plant-forward dishes but will your customers buy them? The answer is yes – if they are marketed correctly. This easy five-step guide will help your team create appeal for menu items by focusing on key taste, sensory, nostalgia, and geographic descriptors to increase consumers’ desire for them. Step #1 Describe Start by listing the core…

Learn More

Organizational procurement self-assessment checklist

• Sustainable procurement

(Sustainable procurement guide) Evaluate the current state of your sustainable procurement program with this organizational self-assessment checklist. Create a follow-up plan for any opportunities in order to advance sustainable procurement.

Learn More

UC San Francisco: Tasty food that just happens to be plant-based

• Case Study
• Food

  “I don’t sell plant-based, I sell delicious looking and tasting food that just happens to be plant-based."  - Dan Henroid, University of California San Francisco Medical Center  The University of California San Francisco Medical Center is a signatory of the Cool Food Pledge, a new platform to help hospitals offer diners more of what they want while slashing food-related greenhouse gas…

Learn More

Composting: Frequently asked questions

• Waste
• Compost
• Composting
• food waste
• Frequently asked questions

What is composting? Compost is created from the decomposition of landscape and food wastes. In a finished product, it is a dark, crumbly and earthy-smelling material that appears similar to soil. Composting provides institutions with a method to dispose of a large portion of these waste streams in a way that benefits their bottom line and the environment. By composting, an institution avoids…

Learn More

Healthy beverage baseline audit tool

• Guide
• Food and Beverage Purchasing
• Tap water access

The critical first step in creating a Healthy Beverage Program in hospitals is performing an audit of beverage policies, practices, access points, and product selection currently in place. This will give the food service department the framework they need to create a clear and comprehensive plan for developing and implementing a Healthy Beverage Program. In the following pages you will find a…

Learn More