Sustainability & Health

Health

HSC’s mission is to create solutions for a healthier community.  When you think of what a community needs to be healthy, what comes to mind?  Clean air and water, unprocessed and fresh food, and a shelter free of toxic materials are most likely at the top of your list.  It’s clear that the health of communities depends on the health of the environment in which that community lives.  HSC Sustainability’s vision is to transform our students and employees into people with a sustainability mindset in which we recognize that a healthy community depends on a healthy planet.

Below we’ve summarized several topics as they highlight the relationship between sustainability and human health.  Since the term “sustainability” is defined many different ways, see how HSC Sustainability defines it here.

Sustainability & Health Care

Sus And HealthIt is estimated that heath care spending will rise to almost 20% of our national GDP by 2026 (source).  Imagine if that spending power was leveraged to reduce health care’s environmental footprint while transforming people’s health and the health of their community.  Furthermore, a recent study (Eckelman et al. 2020) found that greenhouse gas emissions from the health care sector rose in the last decade and now accounts for over 8% of total US emissions.  Below we summarize two organizations working to integrate sustainability into health care operations.  

Practice Greenhealth

Practice Greenhealth is a membership based organization.  It provides resources and solutions to incorporate sustainability within hospital and health care settings to reduce the environmental impact while benefiting patients, staff, and the organization’s financial security (learn more here).  They categorize the issues for accomplishing their mission into 12 topics such as Energy, Sustainable Procurement, Greening the Operating Room, Food, Chemicals and more (see full list).  For example, Practice Greenhealth works to eliminate or reduce hazardous chemicals and replace them with safer alternatives thus reducing exposure to staff and patients.  HSC Sustainability is currently evaluating the possibility of membership as an academic institution.  If you’re interested in accessing Practice Greenhealth’s resources through our potential membership, please contact us expressing your interest.  

Health Care Without Harm

Health Care Without Harm’s goals are to “protect public health from climate change, transform the supply chain, and build leadership for environmental health” (see their mission and goals).  Like Practice Greenhealth they focus on various topics including buildings, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and food to name a few.  They also have several ways to get involved including a physician network (see ways to get involved).  Their YouTube channel features several videos including their “Do No Harm” video which is an animated, three minute video showing how heath care can create a healthier and more sustainable world (see video here).

Take Action

Want to be part of the sustainability in health care movement?  Here are a two suggestions on how to get started:

  1. Be Informed – Sign up for Practice GreenHealth’s newsletter and/or Healthcare Without Harm’s newsletter to keep up to do date (also sign up for HSC Sustainability’s newsletter).  Additionally, the World Heath Organization and Health Care Without Harm have a publication, “Healthy Hospitals, Health Planet, Health People: Addressing Climate Change in Health Care Settings” (full download here).  Although it is from 2009, it discusses the issues still relevant today.  Also, see this publication, Climate Change and Health: Is There a Role for the Health Care Sector” (full download here).  

  2. Get Involved – If you work in the health care sector, see if your employer will join one of these organizations or join one as an individual.  There’s even an annual conference called CleanMed you can attend.  If you do not work in health care, chances are you participate in the system somehow.  Next visit, ask your doctor if they have any sustainability goals, encourage them to offer recycling, or simply mention the issues to them.  Simply talking about it and letting your practitioners and employers know about your interests can spark movement.  

Health Impacts of Climate Change

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Food & the Environment

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Cities & the Built Environment

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United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Building on decades of past work, the United Nations created 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the world to attain “peace and prosperity for people and planet, now and into the future” (Source: History; sdgs.org/goals 2024).  The goals strive for a healthier people and planet thus highlighting how the two are intertwined and connected.  Learn more about each SDGs and how people are working towards them at sdgs.un.org/goals.