Today is Earth Day and to celebrate, the Green Team announces Texas Children’s commitment to reduce organizational emissions by 50% by 2030 and achieve net-zero by 2050.
“This is a bold commitment Texas Children’s is making to our patients, team members and community,” said Dr. Daniel Mahoney, Green Team co-chair. “This is the right thing to do and aligns with our mission. We’re not only creating a healthier future for children and women, but a healthier planet too.”
Climate change is the biggest threat to public health in the 21st century. It is bringing more deadly extreme weather events, increasing non-communicable diseases, and is facilitating the emergence and spread of infectious diseases. Twenty-eight percent of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions come from the United States with the health care sector contributing 8.5% of the total.
The White House with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched the Health Sector Climate Pledge last year inviting organizations to lower greenhouse gas emissions and build a more climate resilient infrastructure.
Texas Children’s initial focus areas to achieve net zero include:
- Direct Emissions
- Indirect Electricity Emissions
- Value Chain Emissions
- EV charging stations
- Renewable energy
- Anesthesia gases
- Shuttle conversion to electric
- Food waste composting
- Recycling
Our goal is to reach these landmarks with our sustainability efforts:
- 196,020 tons of waste recycled instead of landfilled
- 28,089 garbage trucks of waste recycled instead of landfilled
- 158 wind turbines running for a year
- 21,536,530 incandescent lamps switch to LEDs
- 24,596,241 trash bags of waste recycled instead of landfilled
These efforts will result in the following:
- 9,395,748 tree seedlings grown for 10 years
- 3,768 acres of U.S. forests preserved in one year
- 677,626 acres of U.S. forests in one year
Earth Day event
To learn more, please join the Green Team on Monday, April 22 on The Auxiliary Bridge in the Medical Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to hear from our internal partners and vendors. You also can learn how to reduce your own carbon footprint at work and at home.
If you’re unable to attend, please visit the new Sustainability SharePoint site to learn more.
For more information on the Green Team or how to get involved, please contact committee co-chairs Dr. Daniel Mahoney or Gary Brown.