Providing health care in the US generates about 8% of our annual carbon emissions. That is a big number! We were joined by the Sustainability Program Manager at a hospital in Boston We discuss how hospitals are working to reduce their carbon impact.

In this episode we covered the following topics:

• Avery shares her ‘short story’ on how she got to this position.
• We get into some of the insights on the work she is doing inside a ‘corporate / heath environment’ to bring about sustainability
  • Supply chain (Sope 1, 2, & 3)
  • Single use equipment, tools
  • The Cool food pledge
  • anesthetic gases, and reducing loss through leaks
• We reveal an ongoing learning opportunity in the course of the discussion

The reading list:

• To start this discussion -> https://healthtrustpg.com/thesource/workplace-trends/sustainability-workplace-trends/avery-palardy-receives-the-healthtrust-2022-social-stewardship-award/
• The Health Care sector is responsible for 8.5% of GHG emissions
• Cool Food Pledge site -> https://coolfood.org/pledge/
• Article related to Cool Food Pledge discussion - food greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and factors https://ourworldindata.org/greenhouse-gas-emissions-food
• Background on Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions for healthcare
• https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01247
• See the page that collects all the “Making Sense of Climate” episodes -> https://www.franklinmatters.org/2022/02/making-sense-of-climate-collection.html
• https://www.massclimateaction.org/helping_hospitals_reduce_their_carbon_pollution_november_14_2022
• Find the current global CO2 ppm here
• How many days ‘til 2030?

Because we recognize the necessity of personal accountability for our actions, because we accept responsibility for a building a durable future and because we believe it is our patriotic duty as citizens to speak out, we must insist the United States transform it’s energy sector, over the next decade, under a just and equitable plan, that uses regulations, investments and a price on carbon that protects environmental justice communities.

Thanks for listening.

…Ted McIntyre