What HCWH Supporters Can Do for Earth Day

Reston, VA — Celebrate Earth Day this year by increasing your ability to help Mother Earth and promote sustainable health care. Now is your chance to commit to learning something that you might not have known before—or just catch up on something you have an interest in. It’s a simple thing to sign a petition or submit comments—we’ve listed several opportunities here. Schedule yourself some time to view a video or watch a webinar—many listed here are available 24-7 so you pick the time best for you. For this Earth Day, Health Care Without Harm asks you to commit to doing at least one thing on this list that will better prepare you to defend the Earth and promote health care sustainability during the rest of the year!

1. Submit commits to EPA on their new greenhouse gas rule for new power plants. HCWH has made it easy.
Send Your Comments Now

2. Learn more about the Healthier Hospitals Initiative:
a) Sign up for the FREE webinar on HHI You do not have to be a Practice Greenhealth member to sign up for this webinar, but you do need to register. This webinar will be recorded for those who miss it.
b) Peruse the new Healthier Hospitals Inititive website . This website is informative and contains several opinion pieces from a variety of health care view points on why hospitals should take the HHI Challenge.

3. Sign the petition supporting the Safe Chemicals Act. This groundbreaking piece of legislation would which would substantially amend the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) to include more testing of chemicals and disclosure of the makeup of chemical compounds used in products.
Sign the Petition

4. View the Climate and Health Literacy Consortium webinars and PowerPoints on climate change:

a) Climate Change and the Role of the Health Care Professional. This webinar and slide show from which it was derived are both available for you to show at meetings, grand rounds, etc. Schedule a presentation at your next health care function.
Watch Webinar
View Power Point

b) Climate Change and Human Health: A Nurse’s Call to Action. This webinar was presented by Kim Knowlton, Dr.P.H., Natural Resources Defense Council on November 16, 2011. Ms. Knowlton’s work focuses on issues related to the health impacts of global warming, including advocating for public health strategies to prepare for and prevent these impacts.
Watch Webinar

5. If you are a nurse, consider joining our Nurses Work Group. In addition to enjoying fellowship with other nurses committed to sustainable health care, the HCWH Nurses Work Group is involved in important work that touches almost every topic in sustainable health care.

6. If you are already a member of the Nurses Work Group, consider becoming a Nurse Luminary. Requirements are simple: just fill out the form on the Nurse Luminary Website Website to share your story. Nurse Luminaries are a community of nurses across the U.S. and around the world who are working to improve human health by improving the health of our environment. Share your story so that other nurses might be inspired to build on your experience!

7. Become an advocate for healthy food! If you are interested in hospitals serving fresh, local sustainable food which will promote a healthier food system, visit the HCWH Healthy Food in Health Care website and learn about our program and many resources. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact one of our organizers listed on the website.

8. Are you healthcare professional interested promoting healthier food and food systems? Sign the .Healthy Beverages Pledge Read the HCWH Healthy Food in Health Care Document http://www.healthyfoodinhealthcare.org/downloads/Hydrate_For_Health.pdf"> Hydrate for Health
and pledge your support for the efforts of the healthcare sector to reduce consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages. You can also learn about our Food Matters Clinical Education and Advocacy Program here.

9. Sign up for CleanMed 2012. It’s the year’s most informative, cutting-edge, fun conference on sustainable health care! Bring a colleague to ultra-exciting Denver, CO, and get enthusiastic about the great work being done by hospitals to improve the health of patients, staff and community. Register for CleanMed now!

10. Accept the ANHE Earth Day Challenge. In honor of Earth Day 2012, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments is challenging all nurses to turn over a new leaf and start greening their nursing practice, homes, and communities. Join them to discover resources that can help you take the first of many steps to living and working more sustainably.

11. Use social media to spread the word about sustainable health care!
• Follow and re-tweet Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth, Healthier Hospitals Initiative and CleanMed tweets at @HCWithoutHarm, @pracgreenhealth, @HHIorg and @CleanMed.
• Like us on Facebook, comment and share at HCWH: facebook.com/pages/Health-Care-Without-Harm, Practice Greenhealth: facebook.com/practicegreenhealth, and
• HHI: Facebook.com/HealthierHospitalsInitiative.
• Find us on LinkedIn at Health Care Without Harm, Practice Greenhealth, Healthier Hospitals Initiative and CleanMed 2012 Group.

Heath Care without Harm, an international coalition of more than 500 organizations in 53 countries, is working to transform the health care sector, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment. To learn more about HCWH's work, visit our website at www.noharm.org, our YouTube channel at HCwithoutharm, and our twitter feed at hcwithoutharm.