Scottsdale Healthcare Hospitals Mark Earth Day Celebrations With Shred-A-Thons, Recycle Art Show, Green & Sustainable Living Fair

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., April 15 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Scottsdale Healthcare hospitals will demonstrate their ongoing commitment to our planet's health during a week of Earth Day activities, including a recycle art show, paper shred-a-thon and Green & Sustainable Living Fair for hospital staff, volunteers and physicians.

The non-profit, community-based healthcare system will start its celebration with a shred-a-thon on April 15 at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center and April 19 at Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital. The event enables staff to safely dispose of unwanted personal documents and records in an environmentally-friendly way. All shredded paper will be recycled by Scottsdale Healthcare's partner, Arizona Center for the Blind.

Staff members will display artwork made from items that are normally discarded during a Recycle Art Show, April 19-23. Masterpieces will be displayed in the cafeterias of Scottsdale Healthcare's three hospitals -- Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center, Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center and Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital.

On Earth Day itself, a Green & Sustainable Living Fair will be held April 22 on patios at all three Scottsdale Healthcare hospitals. Highlights of the fair include a solar oven demonstration and the opportunity to purchase food items made from locally grown produce.

These and other environmental efforts are part of Scottsdale Healthcare's Green & Sustainability Advisory Council and active staff members known as the Green Team. Highlights from their fiscal year 2009 efforts include:

• Expanding recycling to include paper, plastic, aluminum, tin, medical waste, medical sharps, landscape waste and others. Scottsdale Healthcare recycled 350 tons of paper, 423 tons of cardboard and 49,795 pounds of medical sharps -- representing 9 to 16 percent increases over the prior fiscal year.
• Receiving the Green Dining Award for capturing used cooking grease and recycling it into methane alternative fuels.
• Receiving the 2009 Gold Healthy Hospital System Award for medical device remanufacturing and reprocessing. By remanufacturing, Scottsdale Healthcare kept more than 29,000 pounds of waste out of landfills.
• Saving 304,743 pounds of nitrous oxide and 96,404 pounds of sulfur oxide from being emitted through travel reduction and power/utility improvements
• Reducing fossil fuel consumption by 10 percent over the previous fiscal year through a new high-efficiency air handler and construction on building exteriors
• Decreasing water usage 12 percent over the previous fiscal year by using a reverse osmosis system and incorporating low-water usage plants and trees in landscaped areas

Going green is nothing new to Scottsdale Healthcare. The healthcare system was an early adopter of employee van pools and subsidizes mass transit by providing employee bus and light rail passes. Among other actions, Scottsdale Healthcare also donates furniture and other surplus items rather than hauling them to landfills, as well as uses electric and/or alternative fuel vehicles in its fleet.

Scottsdale Healthcare recently began sponsoring a program to teach local elementary school students how to start living green. Through this support, the "Kids Go Green" program will be brought to more than 8,000 students in Scottsdale. The program is offered by a Scottsdale-based non-profit organization.

"Part of our social responsibility is to be good stewards of Mother Earth and her natural resources. We're working to benefit the future of our community and our planet by making it a cleaner and healthier place to live," said Scottsdale Healthcare Vice President of Community Stewardship Wendy Lyons, who leads the Green & Sustainability Advisory Council.

Scottsdale Healthcare is the community-based, not-for-profit parent organization of the Scottsdale Healthcare Osborn Medical Center, Scottsdale Healthcare Shea Medical Center and Scottsdale Healthcare Thompson Peak Hospital, Virginia G. Piper Cancer Center at Scottsdale Healthcare, Scottsdale Healthcare Research Institute and Scottsdale Healthcare Foundation. A leader in medical innovation, talent and technology, Scottsdale Healthcare was founded in 1962 and is based in Scottsdale, Ariz. For more information, visit www.shc.org.

SOURCE Scottsdale Healthcare