Reduce Environmental Hazards
Our goal is a 5% reduction in environmental hazards by 2013.
Steps already taken
Green Cleaning Techniques
Environmental Services has changed several cleaning procedures to reduce the amount of chemicals used and sent to the waste stream:
- Replaced glass and general cleaners with greener versions
- Converted to micro fiber mops on the West campus, reducing the amount of cleaning chemicals used
- Swithced to floor scrubbing machines that use an electrolyzed water process to clean without chemicals
- Switched to a floor strip machine that eliminates the use of harsh stripper chemicals
- Switched to a closed container to apply floor finish with a flat mop process. This process helps with indoor air quality, it is dispensed in a collapsible container that takes up less space in landfills and reduces wasted floor finish that would otherwise end up in the waste stream.
Mercury Elimination
BIDMC is committed to the elimination of mercury, where possible:
- We have replaced all mobile and wall-mounted mercury manometers and blood pressure cuffs
- All research and clinical equipment has been inventoried for mercury content
Removing Toxic Chemicals From our Research Labs
Many of the chemicals traditionally used by biomedical research labs in search of new cures or a better understanding of current diseases are so toxic that they pose a threat to both the researchers and the larger community. In keeping with our focus on safety, researchers use all the necessary precautions in the labs, and the medical center removes the chemicals in a responsible manner. However, it would be preferable if it were possible to conduct the same experiments using less toxic options. To that end, we have begun working with our researchers to identify and test the viability of currently available substitutes.
