Sustainability September has arrived University Hospital Hairmyres (UHH)
The UHH Sustainability Team has organised NHS Lanarkshire’s first Sustainability September event at University Hospital Hairmyres. The event will run for the whole month with a new sustainability theme each week!
Sustainability September is an event created to encourage staff as well as visitors to make eco-friendly lifestyle choices that benefit not just our planet but also lead to healthier lifestyles and cost savings.
The team will highlight issues including carbon footprint, food and drink, waste, and greening/nature throughout each week of September. Week 1 will be devoted to Sustainable Travel, where staff can find out available sustainable travel options available to them! Staff members can also take part in the first week’s theme by taking the bus, car sharing, walking, or cycling to work in an effort to support a sustainable lifestyle.
The following theme’s are:
- Week 2 – Food and Drink
- Week 3 – Nature and Greening
- Week 4 – Waste
Patrick Jamieson, Chief Respiratory Physiologist – UHH, NHS Lanarkshire, said: “Improved sustainability is essential to reduce the likelihood of global temperatures increasing by 2 degrees and all the catastrophic environmental changes that will occur if the world continues to warm at its current rate.
“We know that health care is a significant contributor to CO2 emissions and want to support our staff, visitors and patients to make sustainability choices. We also know that increased temperatures are associated with increased ill health.
“Our group includes members of the green theatre team who want to share their ideas and changes amongst the wider hospital. This is the start of a journey that we hope all of UHH will join together to improve our environmental footprint. In particular, we are trying, meat free Monday lunches, encouraging staff to car share or cycle to work, use re-usable packaging rather than single use, improve our green areas to increase insects and ensure we recycle our waste appropriately.
“Come and join us!”
There will be a Sustainability Pledge Board where there are challenge ideas and employees are invited to provide information about what they plan to attempt this month and prizes may be won. Alternatively, head over to the Comments Board for inter-staff discussion and tips and tricks to help with living a more sustainable lifestyle.
Alongside this event for Sustainability September, The Sustainability Department has launched their first newsletter which will be published bi-monthly. You can view the newsletter here.Â
