Manchester hospitals are going green in a bid to save the environment.
Central Manchester Hospitals is the trust in the North West to adopt the Green Impact scheme.
Green Impact, which was started by the National Union of Students in 2006, has since gone on to be implemented in around half of universities in the country and is quickly spreading to other organisations.
The scheme is now in place in all six of the trust’s hospitals: Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, the University Dental Hospital, the Royal Eye Hospital, the Royal Infirmary, Saint Mary’s Hospital and the Trafford Hospitals.
The Central Manchester Foundation Trust (CMFT) joins the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and the City Council among others as organisations in the area to take on the initiative.
Claire Igoe, Sustainability Lead at CMFT, believes that Green Impact is a positive step for both the trust and for Manchester in general.
“I think it’s really good that we’ve got all these organisations in Manchester taking part,” said Ms Igoe.
“We work very closely with our colleagues at the universities so this was something that they recommended that we as a trust could get involved in.
“We want to reduce our carbon footprint and this is a way of us doing that.”
Green Impact is about more than just organisations wanting to reduce their carbon footprint however as the National Union of Students is hopeful the scheme will encourage a change of attitude as much as a change of action.
“There is a growing number of organisations across Manchester signed up to the programme and it’s great to see another major employer on board,” said Dom Anderson, Vice President for Society and Citizenship at the NUS.
“We hope that CMFT NHS’ leadership in this area encourages other Trusts across the North to provide valuable opportunities for local students and commit to improve their environmental practices.”
The scheme was implemented in the CMFT on Friday and their ‘pilot year’ will run until an award ceremony in June which celebrates the organisations that have seen the greatest change.
At the ceremony the department, team or union that impress with their environmental action will receive a bronze, silver, gold or even excellent award to commemorate their work.
More information on the Green Impact scheme is available at www.green-impact.org.uk.
Picture courtesy of Ltahitianlime via Flickr, with thanks.
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