The Healthier Hospitals Initiative kept more than 100 million pounds of waste out of landfills in its initial year, according to the program’s first progress report.  The program’s 370 member hospitals recycled more than 50 million pounds of materials and diverted an additional 61.5 million pounds of construction and demolition from landfills through reuse and recycling last year, according to the initiative’s 2012 Milestone Report.
Some 172 hospitals provided HHI with data related to its waste challenge — one of the highest levels of any challenge category. Though many more hospitals enrolled in this challenge during HHI’s first year, most are still developing the internal framework and tracking mechanisms for reporting on their waste performance, the report says.
Hospital Highlight: During Poudre Valley Hospital’s 2012 energy reduction campaign, the Colorado hospital employees were asked to turn off lights when leaving a room, turn off monitors at the end of a shift, and unplug energy “vampires” before leaving for the weekend. Participants were rewarded with $5 café coupons for their efforts. As a result, PVH used 25,678 kWh less than its four-year average for the same time period. Annually PVH would see electricity savings of $13,797.
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