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The Green Team

Not too long ago, the term “reducing our footprint” would probably have had most of us scratching our heads with a puzzled look. Today, we know if we don’t address environmental concerns, the Earth we leave to our children and their children may be a frightening place.

Energy consumption, toxic emissions, and waste all contribute to global poisoning created in the last 100 years that will now take decades to fix.

The Green Team, established in 2008, aims to support a "healthy" healthcare system that is environmentally aware and to create a community dedicated to the health of patients, residents, associates, their communities and the global environment.

The Green Team:

Engages Catholic Health in reducing our environmental footprint
Implements solutions within our ministries to help protect our environment
Assists the Catholic Health family by offering information to help reduce business-related impact on the environment
Offers information to assist others in improving their environmental footprint at home

Catholic Health is a member of Practice Greenhealth, the nation’s leading membership and networking organization for healthcare institutions that have made a commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices. Practice Greenhealth provides practical guidance, training, consultation and business solutions to help its members in their efforts to implement environmentally responsible practices.

How We've Gone Green

Wind Generated Energy Supplies 10% of our Electricity

In October 2010, Catholic Health signed a two year energy purchasing agreement with Constellation Energy. Part of the agreement includes a green power initiative, which will supply wind generated energy for 10% of the electricity at Mercy Hospital of Buffalo, Kenmore Mercy Hospital, Sisters of Charity Hospital, Sisters of Charity Hospital, St. Joseph Campus, four Catholic Health nursing and adult homes and its Nazareth Campus. The facilities use more than 58 million kilowatts of electricity annually.

As a result, Catholic Health is a member of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Green Power Partnership. Catholic Health is the first area health provider to use wind generated energy and the first area health provider named to the partnership.

Elimination of Styrofoam Throughout Catholic Health

Bury it in your back yard and it will still be there in 500 years. No we’re not talking about gold coins. It’s Styrofoam, the man-made product used to the make cups and plates we use every day in our homes and at work. Decades ago, it was a convenience product – an easy way to save money for consumers and businesses, including hospitals.

Not only are Styrofoam products hazardous to the environment, they can also be hazardous to your health! Styrofoam production affects the ozone layer and the air we breathe. If your trashed Styrofoam cup somehow finds its way into a nearby body of water, it can eventually break up into small pieces, be ingested by bird and marine life, causing harm and death. The health effects on humans who drink from Styrofoam cups are even worse. The styrene in the cup migrates into the liquid and gets into your body as you sip your beverage. Hot, fatty, acidic, or alcoholic beverages increase the rate of styrene migration into your body.

In 2008, the Catholic Health Go Green Steering Committee eliminated Styrofoam throughout Catholic Health, phasing out
Styrofoam cups and plates, along with other foam-based products.

Environmentally-Friendly Disposal of Old PCs and Monitors

Old pieces of computer electronics can’t go into a landfill. They may contain cadmium, lead, mercury and other dangerous heavy metals.

Catholic Health has contracted with a vendor to handle the disposal of waste electronics (which includes PCs, monitors, servers, switches/hubs/routers, phones, etc). This process is environmentally-friendly; the equipment is disposed of or recycled in accordance with state and local regulations, and all writeable media is overwritten to Department of Defense specifications.

Single Stream Recycling Program

In May 2010, we kicked-off a “Single Stream Recycling Program” across the system.

Working with Modern Recycling, Inc., the program allows associates to recycle acceptable paper, plastic, metal and glass in the same recycling totes, with no sorting necessary.