Did you know the Environmental Stewardship Team (ESTeam for short) is focused on helping PHC meet its sustainability goals? This team was established mid-2022 and members have been working hard at creating a workplace that strives to reduce its carbon footprint.
Currently there are four working groups throughout PHC:
- Waste
- Food Waste
- Communications and Education
- Measurement and Evaluation
Members meet once a month and can participate in multiple working groups (with variable time commitments), or ad hoc by assisting on a project specific basis, to help advance environmental sustainability initiatives.
Some highlights of current and upcoming ESTeam projects:
- The Professional Practice Office is switching to 100 per cent recycled paper!
- The Waste Working Group is looking at ways to prevent the overusage of gloves in the in-patient setting, starting with CSICU, with the goal of spreading this initiative to the rest of the hospital.
- The Food Waste Working Group is looking to organize a Food Fair in 2023 to promote more plant-based menu choices and to demonstrate ways to reduce waste in the area of food preparation and serving at PHC.
- The Evaluation and Measurement Working Group is available to help teams across PHC (including research and QI projects) measure climate change impacts from their projects.
- The Communications and Education Working Group is obtaining baseline data for their first project with the Energy and Environmental Sustainability Team (EES) about active transportation. The aim is to reduce PHC’s carbon footprint with employees utilizing alternative commuting options.
Are you interested in being a leader in environmental sustainability? Do you want to make a difference in the health care setting as part of the ESTeam? Email Peter Keyes to receive an invite to our next meeting – all are welcome!
