April 22 marks the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, and did you know that MedShare’s mission not only improves health care, but also our environment? The surplus medical supplies and equipment MedShare collects would otherwise be discarded into landfills or incinerators. Instead, these recovered supplies are given a second chance to save a life.
In our 10 years of service, our supply recovery and redistribution efforts have saved over 1 million cubic feet of U.S. landfill space! In 2009 alone, we recovered a total of 974,645 pounds of unused, unexpired surplus medical supplies and equipment from hospitals and medical companies.
A common question we get is: Why does medical surplus exist? There are several U.S. health policies and hospital regulations in our healthcare system that cause medical surplus, but MedShare provides an environmentally-responsible way for hospitals and medical companies to turn their medical surplus back into a life-saving treasure.
Our environmental impact was recently recognized at the Atlanta Business Chronicle’s Environmental Awards, when we were honored with the Green Giving Award. This award recognized a significant donation by a philanthropic or nonprofit organization to an outstanding environmental cause that has demonstrated a significant benefit to the environment.
MedShare was selected for the significant environmental impact our Surplus Medical Supply Recycling Program. Our environmental efforts have also being recognized at our Western Region through the Waste Reduction Award given by the State of California, and the San Francisco Business Times named us a finalist in 2009 for the Green Champion Award.
In 2008, a group of Georgia Tech MBA students did a study to measure our environmental sustainability. They found that our supply and recovery efforts saved approximately 535,000 lbs. of CO2, equal to almost 554,000 miles driven; and 1.8 million kWh, equal to 150 household’s annual electricity.
We are also making great strides to green our distribution centers. The Western Distribution Center is in the final stages of being a green certified business, after completing an extensive greening program. Their most significant change was switching the 32,000 square-foot warehouse to energy efficient lighting, thus saving over $6,000 per year. Our Southeast Distribution Center was one of seven nonprofits selected by Radiance Solar to receive free installation of a $180,000 solar system, as part of a renewable energy grant from Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority.
Click HERE to watch a short video courtesy of the Indigo Project that tells the story of how our mission helps save the Earth and human lives.
