What is Sustainability 🪴

"Sustainability is a way of using resources that could continue forever. A sustain-able activity is able to be sustained without running out of resources or causing harm.

If something is unsustainable, it means it’s using up resources faster than they’re being replaced. Eventually the resources will run out and the activity won’t be able to carry on." Greenpeace.

Working within the health care industry sustainability is usual not a priority in comparison to infection control. What I mean by this is that a lot of single use products are used to reduce the risk of infection and to depose of clinical waste. Due to this a lot of waste is built up and recycling tends to be on the back burner.

Waste Managed states that "Care home waste comprises all types of waste generated within a care home setting, including waste from medical treatments, personal care, food preparation, and everyday activities of residents and staff.

Managing this waste properly is essential to minimise health risks and environmental impact."

This is where my role comes in. My employer Care U.K. have created a voluntary role called the Sustainability Champion which will be based in each of the homes they own to work on reusing, reducing and recycling waste and to help increase the sustainability of each of the homes.

When researching into sustainability in care homes there's not a lot of information on what we can do to play our part in to improve the sustainability of our homes. This is why I have created this blog to share the projects we do to help spread ideas and to get people talking about Sustainability within the Care Home environment.

References

Alfie (2024) Care Home Waste Guide 2024: Waste managed, WasteManaged. Available at: https://www.wastemanaged.co.uk/our-news/care-home/care-home-waste-guide/#:~:text=Care%20home%20waste%20comprises%20all,health%20risks%20and%20environmental%20impact. (Accessed: 03 October 2024).

G. (2024) What is sustainability? A simple guide to a vital idea, Greenpeace UK. Available at: https://www.greenpeace.org.uk/challenges/sustainability/ (Accessed: 03 October 2024).