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Key documents

Guides and tools

See our Mercury pollution prevention module for new information about alternative products.

Green guidelines for healthcare construction (GGHC)
Green Guide for Health Care Version 2.2 January 31, 2007

The GGHC is a 169 page metric tool for evaluation health and sustainability of building design, construction, maintenance and operations for healthcare industry. It is convened by the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems, sponsored by the Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) and the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) and funded by the Merck Family Fund. The GGHC follows the credit structure of LEED™ (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

Executive Order 13101 - Greening the Government
Greening the Government Through Waste Prevention, Recycling, and Federal Acquisition, September 14, 1998 (EO 13101), 49641-49651 [FR Doc. 98-25023]

Full text of the Executive Order to incorporate waste and pollution prevention and recycling into daily operations of the federal government and to establish policies for favoring the acquisition and use of environmentally preferable products and services.
http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a980916c.html

Greening Hospitals
 1998 report; executive summary, full report, and survey results available at Web site of the Environmental Working Group, Washington, DC.
http://www.ewg.org/pub/home/reports/greening/greenexec.html

Environmentally Preferably Purchasing (EPP)
 "How-to" guide on EPP produced by the workgroup Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E).
http://www.geocities.com/epp_how_to_guide/

Memorandum of Understanding
 American Hospital Association and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (Chicago, Ill.: June 24, 1998). A complete statement outlining the goals of the AHA and EPA for mercury reduction and elimination.
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/toxteam/ahamou.htm

Healthcare Environmental Purchasing Tool
 A comprehensive purchasing tool for reducing "persistent, bioaccumulative, toxic" (PBT) materials in the environment that targets the reduction of PBTs, particularly mercury and toxic halogenated compounds, in health care facilities. The tool was developed, reviewed and tested by a number of collaborating organizations including Association for Healthcare Resources and Materials Management (AHRMM), University of Wisconsin, Minnesota Office of Environmental Assistance, and Premier, Inc.
http://www.hospitalconnect.com/ahrmm/products/HCEPT/index.html

Hospitals for a Health Environment (H2E) – Practice Greenhealth (PGH)
 H2E was a private-public partnership sponsored by the American Hospital Association and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1998. Resources, tools, videotapes, fact sheets, and case studies are provided for a variety of environmental issues, including mercury elimination, waste reduction, reducing chemical waste, green buildings. Examples of resources that can be downloaded from this Web site include: a) Mercury-Virtual Elimination Program; b) Hospital-wide Waste Reduction Plan and survey tools; c) Chemical Waste Minimization Plan; and d) Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) information. These tools and resources are now incorporated into Practice Greenhealth. (PGH) and remain available from PGH.
Practice Greenhealth. (PGH)

Health Care Without Harm (HCWH)
 A multinational collaborative campaign for environmentally responsible health care, comprising more than 250 organizations. HCWH provides a wide variety of information, tools, and resources on mercury, PVC/DEHP, medical waste, healthy buildings, safer pesticides and cleaners, green purchasing, and computer waste.
http://www.noharm.org

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Pesticides

Several comprehensive reports are available

Systemic Review of Pesticide Human Health Effects
A comprehensive review of research by the Ontario College of Family Physicians on the effects of pesticides on humans and implications for family physicians. (2004)
Download Systematic review (.pdf) (1 MB)

Healthy Hospitals: Controlling Pests Without Harmful Pesticides
A joint report from Health Care Without Harm and Beyond Pesticides details the results of a survey of hospital pesticide use and provides guidance on safer pest management. (2003)
Download Controlling pests (.pdf) (614 KB)

Case study - Reduction of pesticides use
A successful case study of integrated pest management is adapted from Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) Stat Green Newsletter, August 2004.
Download case study (.pdf) (15 KB)

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Cleaning chemicals

Cleaning for Health: Products and Practices for a Safety Indoor Environment
From INFORM Inc. A guide to environmentally preferable cleaning products and methods, including model specifications (2002).
Download Cleaning for health (.pdf) (416 KB)

EPA-Greening Your Purchase of Cleaning Products
A purchasing guide from the US EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing program. For more information about the EPA’s Program’s history, tools, and resources, visit US EPA Greening your purchase

Cleaning Chemical Use in Hospitals
A fact sheet from Health Care Without Harm (2004)
Download Cleaning chemicals (.pdf) (84 KB)

A Guide to Green Maintenance and Operations
A comprehensive guide from StopWaste.Org, a joint powers authority serving Alameda County, CA.
Green Maintenance (.pdf) (1MB)

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