Join Washington Hospital and the City of Fremont to Celebrate Earth Day-April 23

Washington Hospital and the City of Fremont agree: A healthy community needs a cleaner, greener, healthier environment and everyone can make a difference in helping to clean up our world.

For the sixth year in a row, the two organizations are partnering to present “Let’s Go Green Together!” a free, community-wide Earth Day celebration on Saturday, April 23 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event will be held in the Conrad E. Anderson, MD, Auditorium and the parking lot of the Washington West building next to Washington Hospital.

“Our Hospital is dedicated to ‘planet friendly healthcare’ and we are delighted to be working with the City of Fremont again this year to present a fun and informative event for all,” said Paul Kelley, director of biomedical engineering and green initiatives at Washington Hospital. “When you come on April 23, you’ll have a chance to meet with experts on eco-friendly issues and learn about more ways to go green.”

At the event, you can contribute to a cleaner environment through these free drop-off opportunities:

• Syringes and needles drop-off (in approved containers)
• Confidential document shredding (household documents only, no businesses please)
• Unused, unwanted medication disposal
• Eyeglass donations

You can also exchange your old mercury thermometer for an environmentally safe electronic version. Or, turn in your old torchiere lamp through an exchange program sponsored by PG&E. (To qualify, show your PG&E bill—two lamps per household.)

You’ll also learn about:

• Recycling and waste reduction
• How to save energy at home
• Eco-friendly gardening and composting
• Local sustainability programs
• Healthy eating and healthy produce

Kids will enjoy:

• Bike Rodeo and free bike tune-ups (for kids and adults)
• “Eco-tainment” including a juggler and stilt walker
• Bee exhibit
• Face painting, Earth Day art, and many other free games and activities

New this year will be a free valet bike parking and an exploratorium with environment-related experiments and demonstrations for children.

Washington Hospital’s booth will offer facts about healthy eating, with free food samples. You can learn how to calculate your carbon footprint or play “eco-Jeopardy.” Information highlighting the environmentally friendly aspects of the Hospital’s new construction projects will also be available.

“Let’s Go Green Together!” is also being sponsored by Centripedal Bikes, the Union Sanitary District, and Recall information management.

Last year’s success

“In 2015, we had 49 exhibitors and about 500 people attended our Earth Day celebration. We hope to top that in 2016,” added Kelley. “The amount we collect for reuse and recycling grows every year and this helps shrink the waste stream.”

Collections from the 2015 Earth Day event included:

• 2,240 lbs. of confidential papers for shredding
• Two 50-gallon containers of used syringes and needles (sharps)
• 150 lbs. of unused or unwanted medication
• 36 mercury thermometers (exchanged for electronic thermometers)
• 20 torchier lamps exchanged by PG&E
• One dozen pairs of eyeglasses (collected by the Lions Club)
• Also, about 750 native and rare fruit frees were given to fair attendees for replanting.

‘Planet Friendly Healthcare’

Since 2009, Washington Hospital has had an active environmental program supported by the Washington Township Health Care District Board of Directors and Hospital administration. Its Green Team made up of representatives from nearly every Hospital department is the driving force behind the Earth Day celebration and many other ongoing eco-friendly activities throughout the year.

For the last five years, the Hospital has received the “Partner for Change” award from Practice Greenhealth, a national leader in empowering health care organizations to increase efficiencies and environmental stewardship. The award honors outstanding environmental achievements in the health care field.

Learn more

To find out more about the “Let’s Go Green Together!” Earth Day event, go to www.fremont.gov/earthday. For more about Washington Hospital’s Green Team, visit the Hospital’s website at www.whhs.com/green.