Changing Climate in Healthcare Facilities and Institutions Workshop -- Sept. 29, GW University, Wash DC
Wednesday, September 01, 2010-- On September 29, the Association of Climate Change Officers invites you to a full-day workshop examining opportunities to modernize healthcare institutions and facilities with respect to energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and improved patient response. -- (full text)
[Practice Greenhealth]

September 25.....NATIONAL TAKE-BACK INITIATIVE
Saturday, August 28, 2010-- On September 25, 2010, DEA will coordinate a collaborative effort with state and local law enforcement agencies to remove potentially dangerous controlled substances from our nation's medicine cabinets. Find Collection sites near you...... -- (full text)
[THV]

Vermont mandates e-waste program
Wednesday, August 25, 2010-- Vermont has had almost 100 percent compliance as it rolls out its new e-waste program, which is intended to cut down on the amount of electronic waste that ends up in the state's landfills. -- (full text)
[Brattleboro Reformer]

5 things you should know about e-waste
Wednesday, August 25, 2010-- Given the evolving nature of the e-waste issue, it is virtually impossible for anyone to be an expert, but here are five things you can use to guide your corporate or personal policies. -- (full text)
[ZDNet (blog)]

Hospital Sustainability Gets Executives' Attention
Monday, August 23, 2010-- As hospitals work to improve their environmental condition, there is always the backdrop of governmental oversight, especially from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. -- (full text)
[Health Leaders]

Rice Hospital tackles waste reduction in ways big and small
Monday, August 23, 2010-- Of all industries, hospitals generate some of the most complex waste there is: paper, plastic, cardboard boxes, packaging, cleaning supplies, IV bags, pharmaceutical containers, surgical gloves, laboratory chemicals, biological tissues, batteries and even worn-out sheets and towels. -- (full text)
[West Central Tribune]

Mandatory Reporting of Greenhouse Gases
Friday, August 20, 2010-- EPA is proposing to amend specific provisions in the GHG reporting rule to clarify certain provisions, to correct technical and editorial errors, and to address certain questions and issues that have arisen since promulgation. Comments are due by September 27, 2010. -- (full text)
[EPA]

LEED for Healthcare
Friday, August 20, 2010-- The third public comment period will be open for 20 days, from Tuesday, August 17th to Sunday, September 5th, 2010 at 5:00 pm PT. Any member of the public may comment on the proposed changes to LEED 2009 for Healthcare New Construction & Major Renovations draft (after registering a free site user profile on the USGBC Web site). -- (full text)
[USGBC]

Apply for the ENERGY STAR for Your Hospital
Friday, August 20, 2010-- Buildings achieving a rating of 75 or higher and professionally verified to meet current indoor environment standards are eligible to apply for the ENERGY STAR. -- (full text)
[EPA]

Frye Regional Medical Center Strives to Reduce Carbon Footprint with Reusable Sharps Containers
Tuesday, August 17, 2010-- The hospital has implemented the Sharps Management Service using Bio Systems reusable containers by Stericycle (NASDAQ: SRCL) which keeps an average of 600 disposable sharps containers from going to the landfill for each reusable container used with this system. -- (full text)
[The Lincoln Tribune]

Mercury Fact Sheets from The Interstate Mercury Education & Reduction Clearinghouse (IMERC)
Thursday, August 12, 2010-- The Mercury Product Fact Sheets contain information about the amount of mercury used in products, why mercury has been or continues to be used in the product, manufacturers of these products, and other useful information. -- (full text)
[NEWMOA]

Illegal Disposal Caught on Camera
Wednesday, August 11, 2010-- A Boston, Massachusetts, hospital was fined $38,943 for improper disposal of infectious medical waste, alleged the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). -- (full text)
[Enviro.BLR.com]

Hospital leads way in saving energy
Wednesday, August 11, 2010-- The hospital has curbed its use of electricity and natural gas, saving an estimated $700,000 per year. -- (full text)
[The Olympian]

Potential Exposure of Mercury Due to Broken Fluorescent Lamps in the Workplace
Wednesday, August 11, 2010-- A recently patented packaging system including a zip-closure plastic-foil laminate bag layered between two cardboard boxes has been proven to effectively contain mercury vapor. -- (full text)
[24-7PressRelease.com]

Reducing Mercury from Dental Offices Educational Event -- October 20th, 2010 in Washington DC
Wednesday, August 11, 2010-- Dental Recycling North America and Kerr Corporation as well as WM Healthcare Solutions, Inc. a subsidiary of Waste Management (NYSE: WM) is holding a symposium entitled, "Reducing Mercury Discharges from Dental Offices and the Proper Waste Management of other Hazardous Materials Generated in the Dental Office" on Wednesday, October 20th, 2010 in Washington DC. -- (full text)
[Dental Recycling North America, Inc. (DRNA)]

Hampton Roads hospitals take a scalpel to waste
Friday, August 06, 2010-- Before, the full, 5 -pound canisters were disposed of as medical waste. With the new system, the blood flows into the sewers, and empty containers weighing no more than 8 ounces are cleaned and discarded with the regular trash. -- (full text)
[The Virginian-Pilot]

Envi-health group raises alarm on planned revival of incinerators
Friday, August 06, 2010-- A week before the celebration of the Hospital Week, envi-health group Health Care Without Harm-Southeast Asia (HCWH-SEA) raises alarm on the Department of Health (DoH)'s proposal to revive the use of incinerators calling it "revival of the unfittest". -- (full text)
[Philippine Information Agency]

Pioneering energy project is tipped for top award
Wednesday, August 04, 2010-- AN energy centre project which will cut the carbon emissions of Boston's Pilgrim Hospital has been nominated for a top national award. -- (full text)
[This Is Boston]

Kaiser recycles more hospital trash
Tuesday, August 03, 2010-- It is up to medical personnel to separate recyclable and regulated medical waste. Many times, said Baltz, waste that can easily be recycled isn't, because it is thrown into the same bin as contaminated material. -- (full text)
[Sacramento Bee]

EPA Developing Tool to Assist in Enviro Justice Initiative
Tuesday, August 03, 2010-- U.S. EPA is working on a coarse screening tool as part of its "environmental justice" initiative to help its employees spot pockets of people whose health has suffered disproportionally over the years. -- (full text)
[New York Times]

Is Your Emergency Plan Up to Date?
Friday, July 30, 2010-- In light of the spring floods in Kentucky, the Kentucky DEP's Division of Waste Management (DWM) issued a reminder to hazardous waste generators of their emergency requirements under RCRA -- (full text)
[BLR]

EPA Rejects Claims of Flawed Climate Science
Friday, July 30, 2010-- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today denied 10 petitions challenging its 2009 determination that climate change is real, is occurring due to emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities, and threatens human health and the environment. -- (full text)
[U.S. EPA]

Mishandled medical waste in Virginia
Friday, July 30, 2010-- "Any place you have hospitals, these issues are going to come up," said Bob Kania, divisional manager for Waste Industries, a private company that inadvertently picked up red bags of medical waste from Sentara hospitals and dropped them at SPSA facilities. -- (full text)
[The Virginian-Pilot]

CA E-waste program has flaws, but it works
Friday, July 30, 2010-- California far exceeds all other states in terms of e-waste recycling. -- (full text)
[Sacramento Bee]