Five Carilion Offices Achieve Greening the Office Certification!
Five offices earned GOLD level Greening the Office Certification for 2023 – congratulations! These departments demonstrated a commitment to integrating sustainability practices into their daily work. To apply, departments must complete a robust application that asks for information and examples on how the office is promoting sustainability in the following categories: Energy, Air & Water, Waste & Recycling, Transportation, & Employee Engagement. Offices achieve either Silver or Gold level certification depending on their score.
This year’s applications were filled with original and innovative programs which have led to transformational change within the organization.
Highlighted accomplishments as part of this round of certifications include:
- Sustainability education integrated into multiple onboarding processes, including two educational videos created by Home Health and Hospice building
- Updated infection control policy to remove language specifying warm water is to be used for handwashing
- Nine staff engagement events including campus cleanups, e-recycling events, urban farm, and a book and media exchange
- Eight new recycling programs initiated, including soft plastics, mixed recycling, aluminum tabs and batteries
- Two departments decided to stop purchasing Styrofoam or single use plastics and move to reusable dishware
- Water aerator installed in one kitchen (aerators dilute the water with air which significantly reduces the volume of water coming out of the faucet)
A special thank you to Property Management for their assistance with many of these projects.
Read more about what each office did below.
Home Health & Hospice Home Care Building, 1615 Franklin Road, SW
Creativity abounds within the Home Health & Hospice’s green team! This team went above and beyond to successfully create a culture of sustainability in their office. They created two educational videos used for new hire onboarding which provide an overview of the programs in place in the building, educated employees about proper recycling and waste disposal methods through audits and signage, collected 150+ pounds of plastic film for recycling, volunteered at the Morningside Urban Farm, and recognized employees for their efforts by providing Green Stars when staff are observed acting sustainably. To grab employee’s attention, they put mysterious blue arrows on the ground which led to a bulletin board explaining the building’s recycling program. They also held a fun “caption this photo” competition of a picture of a cactus! In addition to these efforts, the team also helped revise the system-wide hand hygiene policy to clarify that hands do not have to be washed with warm water (the temperature does not affect the cleaning!). This will help us save energy and water across the organization!
Simulation Center, 15 Old Woods Avenue
“Do What You Can” was the title of the campaign this team launched, showing the building’s employees that they can all take small steps to promote sustainability at work. A robust newsletter, SIMply Green, was distributed to employees on a regular basis and provided information on sustainability in the office, as well as general sustainability-related education. The newsletter featured topics, such as energy savings or bringing your own water bottle, and the team also held a Virgin Pulse challenge to facilitate a friendly competition and win prizes. The office also setup multiple recycling programs, including identifying and addressing that the facility had a single stream recycling dumpster but it was not being utilized. They also recycle soft plastics, batteries, and aluminum can tabs for the Ronald McDonald house.
Compliance Department, Suite 1201 CASB
If you walk into the Compliance suite at CASB, you will know that they are engaged in sustainability work! Between their signage on how to properly recycle and ways to conserve energy and water, this office has educated their staff in creative and engaging ways that draw attention and provide valuable information. This team led building-wide efforts to work with Property Management and EVS to refine the recycling process to ensure that all materials were being properly recycled. The team is also working on switching from disposable plates, cups, and utensils, to reusable, by returning any unopened boxes of plastic and Styrofoam items to the warehouse and providing staff with reusable options instead.
Education & Organization Development, Carilion Talent Development Center at Tanglewood
Employee engagement is strong in this department! This department established the “REV Green Team”, a group of team members passionate about sustainability, who have come up with fun and creative ways to engage the many team members in this department. The Green Team held two community litter cleanups, posted signage throughout the facility to help conserve water and energy, and incorporated sustainability into their departmental onboarding. Sustainable practices were incorporated into their regular newsletters, and at departmental events, staff were incentivized to carpool, bring reusable dishware, water bottles and mugs. The team also has sustainability champions who regularly engage in Carilion’s Sustainability Champions Committee and volunteer at the electronics recycling events.
Virtual Care Center, Parkview
Very little waste is coming from the Virtual Care Center at Parkview! This department recycles plastics # 1 and 2, aluminum, soft plastics, cardboard, printer cartridges, and aluminum tabs for the Ronald McDonald house. Additionally, they limit the amount of paper they are printing by setting all computers in the department to double-sided printing and using electronic methods to disseminate information for team meetings. They are also working to remove Styrofoam products by no longer ordering these items.
