Making a difference on Earth Day and every day

The following is a guest column by Les Etschedit, Director of the Environmental Services Department, Mercy Medical Center-Cedar Rapids.

CEDAR RAPIDS - Earth Day is April 22 - a great occasion to re-examine what steps we've taken in our community to treat our environment with a little more TLC through recycling and other programs.

At Mercy Medical Center we take seriously our role as a community leader year-round, working to improve the health of our community, and our environment, to ensure a higher quality of life.

We are passionate about making a difference by doing the right thing and our ongoing efforts at “going green” are taking root.

Last spring, our environmental concerns committee focused on using cutting-edge technology to enhance our recycling. Mercy purchased a new recycle/trash compactor – the first of its kind in the Corridor – allowing co-mingled recycling hospital-wide. The impact was immediate; we were able to reduce our total waste by as much as 40% in the first year.

The design of the state-of-the-art compactor enables the handling of recycling and waste using two separate compartments, so Mercy is able to divert a wider variety of recyclables from regular waste.

The compactor, made by JV Manufacturing, has two chambers, one side for recycling and the other for waste. It's a 60/40 percent split.

Mercy purchased the compactor in collaboration with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Cedar Rapids/Linn County Solid Waste Agency. In addition to diverting clean plastic, newspapers, magazines, rinsed tin cans, water bottles, chipboard and non-confidential papers into the co-mingled recycling program, Mercy staff and patients also recycle cardboard, batteries, plastic wrap and sterile wrap from surgical products.

The use of the split compactor from July to December last year diverted 35,520 pounds of waste from the landfill. By averaging 2.96 tons monthly, we envision diverting close to 36 tons each year just with the split compactor.

We didn't stop there. Last December, Mercy began organic recycling, a pilot project led by our Food and Nutrition Department. Organic waste created in the food preparation process has been diverted from Mercy's waste stream.

Mercy's 2010 internal waste audit showed that less than 30 percent of our total waste was being recycled. Since December 2012, Mercy is averaging up to 5 ½ tons of waste per month diverted through composting. We project that we will divert close to 60 tons annually with our organic recycling program.

Mercy is the first hospital in the Cedar Rapids area to do both recycling and composting. We anticipate that these two initiatives together could divert around 100 tons of waste annually from the landfill.

Our efforts have also contributed to Mercy's being reclassified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from a large waste generator to a small waste generator. By separating waste materials and educating staff, Mercy was able to reduce its hazardous waste output by 87.1 percent in 2012.

Mercy will participate in several local events recognizing Earth Day. We have also offered to work with other area businesses interested in boosting their own recycling programs.

Comments may be directed to: letscheidt@mercycare.org