Going Green

Most of us have heard about going Green.  The term for helping the environment that has been picking up speed.  We have had a Vice President make a movie which inspired more of us to go Green.  So, as I have read issues about “Going Green” I did a search on the great wide internet. 

I discovered there are about as many ways to go Green as there are shades of green.  There is an association that will help you plan on how you would take your local school Green, Go Green Initiative.  After finding this organization I found that you can start your own group and get a Green clean certification as well.  You can also hire Green consultants to get you ahead of the curve when competing against your competitor in our fierce economic times.  There are many ways to Go Green and many reside on the internet.

I am totally in favor of going Green and did enjoy my research on this project.  I will have to admit I ran across some ideas that made me smile.  My smile popped up from the ideas which were drilled into my head as a young boy.  I will list a few ideas that were presented:

• 1. Turn off the lights when no one is in the rooms.
• 2. Open your windows and let the fresh air in rather then use your air conditioning.
• 3. Run your dishwasher with a full load.
• 4. Run your washer and dryer with a full load.
• 5. Place two bricks in your toilet reservoir to conserve water when flushing.

I know I will date myself but I have to admit that I used to receive little gentle love knocks on the head for two of the listed items.  The light issue was major and the air-conditioning was only in one room and was rarely turned on.  All of these are important but I had to smile because I had no idea how far advanced my Mother was for her time.  Are these not common sense issues?

Getting to the serious Green issue, I think we are trying to get back to common sense so we give it the title “Going Green”.  To recycle is a no brainer issue.  Why can we not take products that can be recycled and re-use.  To re-use rather then consuming more raw materials can only be a positive result for us and our planet. 

In healthcare all individuals involved know the tragic waste that goes on each day.  I have been involved on medical missions and what we throw into the land fill could be saving many lives around the world.  Many hospitals in third world areas would love to have the outdated syringes or surgical blades that have expired because of a date on the box.  The outdated equipment and products that expire would help run many third world hospital operating rooms but sadly many products still head to the landfill.

Today we do have organizations popping up that look to rescue these items from the land fill.  These companies (mostly non-for profit) truly inspire and help other companies Go Green or move closer to Green.  A company that I have worked with is Mission Outreach.  This organization will accept many items.  They pick up product and will also take products if you send to them.  So if you feel your health care facility could Go Green drop me a line or follow the link to Mission Outreach.  Let’s make the landfill a bit smaller and do something that is common sense and send to those in need.

My last note, the toilet and reservoir thing is a fallacy.  It was proven in the 80’s that people flushed the toilet more often because most toilets could not discharge the waste in one flush.  Spend a little more green and get the air propelled toilets, those things really work.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!