The Ohio State University Medical Center’s Green Team shredded and recycled more than 3,250 pounds of documents; encouraged healthy activities supportive of the environment; and gave employees sapling trees to plant for their own use during activities to celebrate Earth Day this year.
Medical center faculty and staff brought to the Ackerman Shelter House items that normally might have gone to the landfill to instead be recycled, repurposed or disposed of in a manner less harmful to the environment. (photo above: left, John Guardiola, assistant director of environmental services at The James, and right, Michelle Pennington, office administrative assistant with Wexner Medical Center engineering)
In addition to the document recycling, the Green Team collected 5.3 cubic yards of electronics, which is equivalent to the capacity of a small dump truck, and 50 pounds of batteries. They distributed 150 native trees, and participants donated more than 70 pairs of shoes to be recycled.
More than 5,800 faculty and staff from across the university participated in the “Every Day is Earth Day” Your Plan for Health Challenge, in which they kept track of actions they took for the good of the Earth and their health.
In addition, nearly 80 people attended Earth Day-themed webinars hosted by the Green Team.
The Green Team at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center helps bring together research, education and patient care groups to help raise awareness of the medical center’s sustainability goals. The team’s volunteer members champion sustainability initiatives by informing their colleagues about the status of various activities and advising them on what actions they can take to contribute meaningfully to these goals.
Read more about Wexner Medical Center sustainability successes.