Introducing St. Joe’s Green Team, Environmental Co-Operative (ECO) Program
Pictured Above: Dr. David Higgins, President, St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton kicking off St. Joe's ECO launch event at Charlton Campus.
St. Joe’s launched its new green team, Environmental Co-Operative (ECO) Program at Charlton Campus. A renewal of St. Joe’s grassroots green team Environmental Vision and Action (EVA), focuses on St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton’s environmental sustainability. The ECO committee will lead the environmental stewardship initiatives at St. Joe’s and inspire action among staff. By working together, St. Joe’s will be able to create positive environmental impacts with the same compassion, innovation and commitment we give to our patients within the continuum of our care.
Operating 24 hours a day 365 days of the year means that small actions can have large impacts whether they are related to healthcare or the environment. Because of this, ECO is launching a 12 month action and awareness campaign called 365 Days of Green. Each month of the campaign will have a different environmental goal and demonstrate how everyday actions will make St. Joe’s a greener and more environmentally sustainable organization.
Pictured Above: Members of St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton's senior leadership team and staff at the launch of ECO's 365 Days of Green campaign at Charlton Campus.
The month of September’s focus is on recycling. St. Joe’s has been recycling since 2008 using single stream recycling. Single-stream means that plastics, paper and metals can all go in the same bin. Since starting their greening initiative in July, Food Services doubled the organics and compost output from four tones in June to eight tones in one month alone. Food Services has also achieved a reduction of 12 bags of land filled garbage per meal to two bags of land filled garbage per meal. St. Joe’s has also introduced a comprehensive recycling program in the Emergency Department (ED). In the ED, the staff has been engaging and welcoming to the greening initiative. September will focus on strengthening St. Joe’s recycling programs to continue to inspire action and measure monthly improvements in waste diversion.