Carbon emission rates are being reduced everyday at Wishard Health Services by eliminating disposable sharps containers and replacing them with reusable containers to keep plastic out of landfills.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found American hospitals and health care facilities account for 8 percent of the U.S. carbon footprint.
JoAnn Pardue, director of Environmental Services at Wishard, said the whole idea of incorporating a sharps reusable container program fit in nicely with Wishard’s environmental conscious culture. She said the initiative was introduced by various departments within the health system to employees in 2008 as the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Program.
“Programs like the reusable sharps container effort are in place because we are passionate about bettering the environment. We are doing whatever we can do to minimize what goes into the landfills,” Pardue explained.
Pardue said since the introduction of the program infection control has been improved and it allows the plastic sharps containers to be reused up to 600 times, which reduces unnecessary trash. The Stericyle Sharps Management System along with Wishard’s other recycling efforts have resulted in reaching nearly 300 tons of recyclables annually.
The service started last year. It is estimated that through 2011 Wishard will divert 32,399 pounds of CO2 from 55,033 pounds of plastic and 3,407 pounds of cardboard kept out of landfills. These numbers equate to not burning 1,688 gallons of gas. Pardue said the buy-in from employees has contributed to the strong results.
“Everyone is so excited about the recycling efforts as a whole. Recycling has become part of the culture for here. Employees want to help,” Pardue said.
In addition to the recycling of sharps, paper, plastic, cans and glass, sensitive documents are separated and placed in secure privacy bins and shredded. Recycling bins are located throughout the hospital, the 10 community health centers and Wishard’s Midtown Community Mental Health Center locations.
Plans are already under way to continue the green operations as Wishard moves forward with the new Sidney and Lois Eskenazi Hospital. Eskenazi Hospital, set to open in December 2013, is pursuing Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. This would make it the first hospital in Indiana and one of 10 in America to achieve LEED Silver certification.
