UF HEALTH IS GOING GREENER!
Responsible resource use continues
Here in North Central Florida, starting Jan. 1, 2020, Alachua County and the city of Gainesville will ban the use of single-use plastic bags (such as grocery store shopping bags) and Styrofoam (polystyrene) food containers by restaurants and commercial retailers. UF Health’s food retailers will be compliant with all these guidelines.
UF Health leaders are preparing for and support these changes. We already have a robust recycling program, ongoing sustainability practices and plans to step up our efforts.
“We’ve always made it a priority to be responsible stewards of the significant resources we manage in the health system,” said Brad Pollitt, UF Health Shands vice president of Facilities, a longtime sustainability advocate for our organization. “We follow sustainable practices wherever possible to avoid or moderate waste and manage our ecological footprint.”
Besides our ongoing building and construction efforts (see page 13), our leaders have long supported recycling and “green” waste-management processes. A group recently met with Alachua County recycling officials to ensure we’re on the right path. We comply with all necessary guidelines but there’s more we want to do.
“We have developed a robust recycling program, and we’re going to communicate more about our sustainability efforts to get everyone on board,” said Lara Zamajtuk, associate vice president for Operations. “We’re striving to do a better job explaining the recycling and waste management do’s and don’ts so everyone understands positive steps we can take, as well as the challenges we face here and in the community.”
Future goals include broader recycling and the use of more alternative products made with sustainable materials that are compostable and recyclable. We’re working with our food services and environmental services leaders. Meanwhile, UF’s Gator Dining programs eliminated single-use plastic bags and Styrofoam food containers in 2011 and have reduced straw use while using greener alternative products.
At UF Health, we have expanded recycling efforts not only at our Archer Road hospitals and buildings but also at all our UF Health satellite locations throughout the county, including our office/ administration buildings, freestanding emergency centers, physician medical practice sites and outpatient service facilities. That’s more than 30 facilities!
There should be easily accessible recycling containers on each floor of our buildings. Food-related recycling bins are most often found in dining areas and break rooms; and paper-related recycling bins are most often centrally located in office areas or copy areas.
Our Environmental Services department has plans to put up more signs by trash and recycling areas to remove some of the guesswork. In Gainesville, our UF Health recycling goes to the same sorting facilities as our home recycling, and the guidelines are the same for what can and cannot be recycled at this time. (Please see list on page 12.)
“The Alachua County recycling program has helped us build on our own recycling efforts, and we’re working hard to keep expanding on what we’re doing,” said Tim Underwood, UF Health Shands Environmental Services director. “They’ve noticed the difference and they’re very appreciative of our proactive approach and partnership.”
Let’s do our part!
PRINT LESS
Paper waste can easily be reduced when we address our habits versus needs.
What to do: Print only when necessary, print two-sided whenever possible — and always recycle! Each department should have a large centralized, labeled paper recycling can or bin that is emptied regularly.
CRUSH CARDBOARD
The WCA Waste Corporation hauls away our corrugated cardboard and pasteboard for recycling.
What to do: Break down cardboard boxes and lids and leave them stacked by your department’s paper recycling containers for pick up.
BIN BOTTLES (Aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles)
Beverage containers — items with a pourable spout or neck up to 2 gallons in size — should be deposited in the recycling bins labeled “Cans & Bottles.” Remove caps and lids before recycling. Unfortunately, other glass and plastic items, such as food containers and lids, shouldn’t be put in these containers.
What to do: Please recycle your aluminum beverage cans, glass and plastic bottles in our blue, labeled recycling containers.
IT’S FINE TO TOSS ALKALINE
Regular single-use household and workplace alkaline batteries (like AAA, AA, 9-volt, etc.) can be safely tossed in the trash, per Alachua County recommendation.
What to do: Use regular trash to dispose of regular alkaline batteries.
UF Health Shands Sustainability Committee
A new committee has formed to address sustainability opportunities in our UF Health Gainesville hospital and outpatient facilities. It is led by Tedd Comerford, associate vice president of Supply Chain Services and Materials Management for UF Health Shands, and Lauren Berkow, M.D., FASA, UF College of Medicine professor of neuroanesthesia. The group’s mission includes the call “to lead passionately, by example, to inspire others to reduce our carbon footprint.” In an upcoming edition of News+Notes, we will share more about this new group and their vision and goals — and how you can get involved!
Hospitals earn two national Environmental Excellence awards
In May, UF Health Shands Hospital received two Environmental Excellence awards from Practice Greenhealth, a leading organization that promotes sustainable health care and environmental solutions. We received a Partner Recognition Award and a Greening the OR Environmental Excellence Award. These awards resulted from hospital system efforts that included saving more than $180,000 by reprocessing single-use medical supply items; saving more than $78,000 by diverting 27,000 pounds of waste with reusable sharps containers; collecting more than 1,400 tons of recycling materials; and composting more than 54,000 gallons of food waste.
