Medical Industry
Waste Prevention Round Table

4) Incorporate environmental language in your requests for proposals (RFPs) and purchasing contracts.

5) Continually ask your vendors and Group Purchasing Organizations for products that are environmentally preferable.

6) Implement modest, measurable goals for EPP, then monitor progress. For example, buy only non-mercury thermometers, sphygmomanometers, and esophageal dilators.

7) Visit the Sustainable Hospitals Website, www.sustainablehospitals.org, for a list of alternative healthcare products and practices. Contact the SHP Clearinghouse for additional information and printed resources. SHP Clearinghouse phone: 978-934-3386 and email: shp@uml.edu

8) Visit the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) Website, www.h2e-online.org, and check out the Tools and Resources section "Green Purchasing". The H2E effort is to educate health care professionals about pollution prevention opportunities.

9) Build a network of resources that provide good ideas and allow you to identify best practices. Visit the website www.ciwmb.ca.gov/BIZWASTE/factsheets/hospital.htm for starters.

10) Ask hospital personnel how everyday activities can be tuned to be more environmentally sound. Work with vendors to incorporate employees' suggestions. With a little prompting, an abundance of good ideas will come forth. For example, when evaluating copy machines, place a premium on ones that are strong on 2-sided copying.

11) Broadcast your successes. For example, use the hospital newsletter to promote EPP achievements.

Past Meetings

• Green Purchasing (Environmentally Preferable Purchasing) in the Medical Industry
  November 16, 2000 Notes
  

More Resources

"Environmentally Preferable Purchasing How To Guide", Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (an AHA/EPA Partnership), online at
www.geocities.com/EPP_How_To_Guide

This manual from the Kentucky Pollution Prevention Center was prepared to provide Kentucky health care facilities with guidelines for the reduction of PBTs and pollution prevention through an EMS approach.
www.kppc.org/Publications/Print%20Materials/Healthcare%20Guide/index.cfm

Health care organizations are increasingly recognizing that waste minimization and toxics use reduction are important both from a business and community relations perspective. This report, prepared by Tellus Institute, shows how environmental costs impact organizations.
www.h2e-online.org/pubs/envacctg.pdf

Although a bit off the subject, here is a very intuitive web tool provided by OSHA. The tool focuses on some of the hazards and controls found in the hospital setting, and describes standard requirements as well as recommended safe work practices for employee safety and health.
www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/hospital/index.html

The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center page on "Supply Chain Management for Environmental Improvement: Greening the Supply Chain" is found at:
www.pprc.org/pubs/topics/grnchain/index.html

A comprehensive web site with fact sheets, links to healthcare technical assistance program sites, and alternative medical product suppliers.
www.sustainablehospitals.org/

This National Wildlife Federation (NWF) guide serves as a resource guide for procurement officers and consumers on mercury in products and their alternatives.
www.nwf.org/nwfWebAdmin/binaryVault/mercuryproducts.pdf

Contacts

Catherine Galligan
phone: (978) 934-3386
e-mail: shp@uml.edu
Ken Grimm