On Saturday, April 22, the world will recognize Earth Day. The tradition began in 1970, when then Governor Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin saw the devastating effects of an oil spill in California. Since then, Earth Day is observed to call attention to climate change, the things that can damage our environment, and how we can help protect our planet.
People around the globe come together to plant trees, clean river beds, hold recycling events. The hope is to increase awareness of what we can do to make our world better, and to save it for future generations.
At Lifespan hospitals, our mission is delivering health with care. We also care for our environment -- not just on Earth Day, but every day.
We work hard to “reduce, reuse and recycle” every day in order to divert our waste stream from the landfills. We are proud to announce that in 2016, Rhode Island Hospital led our system with nearly 35 percent of its waste being recycled! For several years, The Miriam and Newport hospitals have been recycling their “Blue Wrap,” a material used to keep things sterile for the operating rooms. Now Rhode Island Hospital is also joining that initiative, beginning with its pilot next week. You can learn more about Blue Wrap, and The Miriam’s 2014 award for its recycling efforts, in this video.
In 2016, The Miriam and Rhode Island hospitals began working with The Compost Plant, which picks up hundreds of tons of composting materials each year from our hospitals.
We also have ongoing initiatives throughout our hospitals to be “greener” and be kind to our environment. In 2015, Lifespan launched “Greenways” program system-wide, to organize and leverage their ongoing recycling and sustainability activities through engaging employee volunteers in Green Teams.
Earth Day is also a kick off for some events across our partners.
- On Saturday, April 29, Bradley Hospital will hold its annual campus clean-up, and later in May, staff can participate in a recycling challenge.
- Annual Earth Day Celebrations will be held at both The Miriam Hospital (Tuesday, April 25) and Newport Hospital (Monday, May 1). A “Recycling Impact Project” display and information table will be in each cafeteria during the lunch hours. Additionally, staff from RI Resource Recovery Corporation will be onsite at the events to talk about the dos and don’ts of both hospital and residential recycling.
- On Wednesday, April 26, Rhode Island Hospital will hold its Blue Wrap Recycling Pilot. This behind-the-scenes project will test the hospital’s readiness and process for recycling its blue wrap. Months of preparation have gone into the launch of this important recycling program.
Thank you to all of the members of our Green Teams at each of our sites and for everyone who is pitching in to do what we can to reduce, reuse and recycle for the health of our planet.
Happy Earth Day!
Find a Doctor
