What is it?
Green Health Care is a new idea entering into the mainstream healthcare industry that works to improve the health of humans and the environment. Traditionally, naturopathic medicine can be considered one of the “greenest” options for health care. It is a complementary and alternative medicine that emphasizes the body’s intrinsic ability to heal and maintain itself, using natural remedies like herbs and food that do not pollute the earth. Naturopathic physicians recognize that environmental health is intimately linked to the health of people. In the mainstream healthcare industry, often referred to as Western medicine, pro-environmental practices are being incorporated at many levels: reducing mercury and other toxins in medicines, properly disposing of medical waste, building sustainable and toxic-free infrastructures, creating food systems which are ecologically sound and affordable, using clean energy and promoting the safe disposal of electronics, educating healthcare professionals on environmental stewardship, and the list continues. In short, the main goal of Green Health Care is to transform the healthcare sector worldwide, without compromising patient safety or care, so that it is ecologically sustainable and no longer a source of harm to public health and the environment.
Benefits for the You and the Environment: Because the Green Health Care movement recognizes that human health and the environment are inextricably linked, the benefits go hand and hand. Health Care Without Harm (www.noharm.org), one of the leading organizations behind this movement, outlines how this approach is mutually beneficial:
1. Create markets and policies for safer products, materials and chemicals in health care. Promote safer substitutes, including products that avoid mercury, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) plastic and brominated flame-retardants.
2. Eliminate incineration of medical waste, minimize the amount and toxicity of all waste generated and promote safer waste treatment practices.
3. Transform the design, construction and operations of health care facilities to minimize environmental impacts and foster healthy, healing environments.
4. Encourage food-purchasing systems that support sustainable food production and distribution, and provide healthy food on-site at health care facilities.
5. Secure a safe and healthy workplace for all health care workers.
6. Ensure patients, workers and communities have full access to information about chemicals used in health care and can participate in decisions about exposures to chemicals.
7. Promote human rights and environmental justice for communities impacted by the health care sector, while assuring that problems are not displaced from one community or country to another.
Cost: Variable
Because Green Health Care is a fairly new idea, the cost is variable. For the individual, many of the institutions that support this vision are covered under your traditional health insurance. In some parts of the country, you may have to rely on Naturopathy as your only green alternative, which unfortunately is usually not covered under your insurance plan. For the healthcare industry, initial cost is the driving force for all decisions and implementing green practices would require added costs. The industry is struggling with the decision to invest extra money in operations versus patient treatment and staff compensation.
Time and Effort: Moderate
If you already have personal healthcare providers that you are satisfied with, it might take some extra time and effort to identify whether they practice the Green Health Care model. If they do not, and you are interested in finding ones that do, it will take some added research time. However, if you are in search of new doctors or new healthcare facilities, this will take about the same amount of time as looking for traditional healthcare providers.
Resources
If you are interested in making your healthcare needs more environmentally friendly, below are some resources to guide you. One of the easier ways to start the process is to first talk to your healthcare providers about Green Health Care. Have they heard of it? Do they already practice it? Are they interested in it? Is the building that they work in sustainable? Do they properly dispose of their medical waste? This will help to create a buzz and a shift in the movement.
For general information about Green Health Care, check out Health Care Without Harm and the Teleosis Institute-both leaders within the movement:
To locate a professional in your area that practices Green Health Care at some level, you can search the following database:
• Naturopathic Doctor Search Engine:
http://www.holistic.com/directory
If you are interested in the building aspect, whether that be for general information, to find out if your hospital is green friendly, or for resources on how to green your own facility, check out:
• The Green Guide for Health Care:
http://www.gghc.org/
• Healthy Building Network:
http://www.healthybuilding.net/healthcare/
