Issue 5 - October 2009 | Campaign for Greener Healthcare

Welcome to 'Green Rabbits' the monthly newsletter from the Campaign for Greener Healthcare for an update on sustainable healthcare news, events, resources and our projects. The primary source of information about the Campaign, including an archive of these newsletters, is our website at www.greenerhealthcare.org.

NHS FOREST LAUNCH

NHS Forest small tree_logo_RGB.JPG This exciting national project engages people with the healthcare benefits of trees and carbon reduction. The aim is to plant 1.3 million trees, one for every employee in the NHS. The project includes a tree sponsorship scheme to celebrate, commemorate and say thank you to staff at the hospitals for their care. During the pilot phase over 10 sites throughout the UK have signed up to the project including teaching hospitals and mental health trusts.

The Launch of the NHS Forest will be at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital on Tuesday 6th October. Healthcare staff from any organisation, patients and the wider community interested in the Forest are very welcome!

Please email Rachel Stancliffe on rachel.stancliffe@kintoa.org or telephone 01865 515811 if you would like to come.

www.nhsforest.org

10:10 CAMPAIGN UPDATE

United for 1010_3.jpg Following the extremely successful launch on 1st September the 10:10 Climate Change Campaign got off to a flying start. Over 20,000 individuals, hundreds of organisations and nearly 1,000 businesses have pledged to cut their carbon emissions by 10% during 2010. There has been a fantastic response to the Campaign from the health sector - notable sign ups since the launch include: Guy's & St Thomas', South London & Maudsley, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Faculty of Public Health and NICE. To promote grass roots action and share ideas we have established an email list which individuals can sign up to here:
http://lists.greenerhealthcare.org/mailman/listinfo/1010_health

1010uk.org 1010 Health Resources Contact 1010 Health 10:10 Goes Global

DOCTORS DEMAND ACTION FROM POLITICIANS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

The leaders of 18 of the world's professional medical organisations, including the Royal College of Physicians, have written an open letter, published in the BMJ and the Lancet, urging doctors to demand that their politicians listen to the facts on climate change and act now to avoid catastrophy.

Click here for more details.

TOOLS & RESOURCES - 2 DEGREES NETWORK

2degrees logo.gif The Campaign for Greener Healthcare invites you to join the Greener Healthcare Network on 2degrees.

This network will address the key sustainability issues that affect today’s healthcare sector. Here, sustainability experts will be discussing core challenges such as Procurement and Sourcing of Food; Elimination of Waste; Transport; Energy and Carbon Reduction; Water Use; Community Involvement, Finance and Governance; Clinical Transformation; and Packaging.

We will be launching the network with our first webinar in late October – Carbon Accounting in the NHS – presented by AEA and a leading hospital – including case studies. More details to follow.

By joining this network you will have the opportunity to attend webinars, partake in forum discussions and share best practice with NHS peers and selected sustainability experts.

Click here to join.

CARBON ADDICT SERIES - CLIMATE TOXICITY

terminal stages.jpg Although the global health burden from carbon dependence is currently dominated by obesity and other diseases of a high carbon lifestyle, the health effects from carbon toxicity to the climate are escalating rapidly and may prove far more devastating. A feature of climate toxicity is that it does not relate to the severity of an individual’s carbon addiction. Indeed, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has found that the majority of the 150,000 deaths so far attributed to climate change each year have occurred in non-addicts – namely children in the developing world.

http://www.carbonaddict.org/terminal-stages

GOOD MONTH FOR ...

Occupational Therapists, following the inclusion of a Green OT slot in the Plymouth University Sustainability Conference. Click here for more details.

Age of Stupid climate change film - the Global Premier took place with some 400 screenings across America on 21st, and a further 200 screenings across more than 50 countries across the world on 22nd September. www.ageofstupid.net

BAD MONTH FOR ...

Children, according to research by the British Heart Foundation that says "Only one in eight young people get the recommended daily amount of exercise." Click here for full press release.