Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) recognized Earth Day 2018 by acknowledging ongoing relationships with environmental-conscientious partners on April 20.

This year's Earth Day theme, 'Global Reach, Local Action' provided NHB the opportunity to invite Skookum Contract Services, Chugach Federal Services, Navy Facilities Engineering Command, and Stryker Corporation, to display their 'local action' environmental successes.

"We want to highlight what our local support is doing for NHB achieve its sustainability goals. In addition to providing housekeeping and maintenance services, Skookum and Chugach coordinate with our office to improve NHB's environmental foot print, reduce the volume of waste generated, continual improvement in reduction of toxic chemicals use," said Ramon Calantas, Environmental Division environmental protection specialist.

According to Environmental Division environmental manager Robert Mitchell, NHB manages to combine 'Global Reach' with 'Local Action' by focusing on a number of programs - recycling, replacing and reusing - that supports a culture of environmental stewardship throughout the command and community.

"Everyone should have a commitment to protect the environmental. As a military organization set in a community we need to be good stewards and neighbors and do by example to be sure we do our part to protect the land, water and air we occupy," Mitchell said. "One example is the work our Skookum housekeeping staff does in their efforts by using green products and waste reduction provides an outstanding service in an environmental friendly way."

There are 29 professional hospital housekeepers from Skookum Contract Services, including five certified in medical waste transport.

Violeta Candare, Skookum certified executive housekeeper, attests that the materials Skookum uses are considered the most eco-friendly option that meet the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for healthcare.

"We love our naval hospital. What we do is important for our patients, our staff and our environment," said Candare, noting that Skookum quality and environmental planning goes well beyond compliance and also involves educating and training their employees on the importance of environmental stewardship.

A prime example of NHB's collaboration with Skookum involves surpassing their initial goal to reduce the number of medical waste boxes collected for disposal by five percent annually.

Using 2014 as the baseline year for the project, 2,437 boxes of medical waste were disposed that year containing such product as biomedical, pathology, and trace chemotherapy waste. Fast forward to 2017 and the number of boxes disposed dropped to 1,375, a 43.57 percent reduction, or 1,062 less than during the initial year. Well beyond the modest five percent target.

"There's no way we could have done this without the great housekeeping team. We are so thankful for their continual support," Calantas said.

Chugach tailored their Earth Day campaign contribution with NHB to end plastic pollution by focusing on a five 'R' principle: Reduce personal plastic usage and purchase sustainable products made without plastic; Refuse to not take a plastic straw or accept a plastic shopping bag; Reuse with mesh bags when grocery shopping and have a reusable water bottle instead of single use disposable plastic bottles; Recycle soda and water bottles, and milk and juice jugs; Remove plastic by starting a clean-up project in your local area and/or support the work of removing plastic from the environment.

Mitchell also cited that Chugach workers at NHB have personally reduced their plastic footprint by using single serve brew cups that are compostable, provided water delivery service to encourage reusable water bottles and switched to green office supplies that are recyclable.

Other environmental stewardship projects at NHB include;

NHB's Terrace Dining Facility has switched take-out containers from Styrofoam to eco-friendly material. By eliminating the polystyrene-based products, the command has effectively cut back on trying to recycle approximately 120 take-out container orders that also included cups, and salad/soup bowls.

"It's not that the stuff can't be recycled, it's just that it's difficult. The to-go containers would end up in the garbage and trying to separate was almost impossible," explained Cmdr. Robert McMahon, Director for Administration.

"The new containers are compostable. They still go in landfill, just breakdown quicker," added Mitchell.

The command also has a robust waste reduction program with Stryker Corporation, a medical materials and equipment manufacturing company, to collect and return Food and Drug Administration classified "single used devices" used in the operating room, instead of disposing of them as medical waste. After reprocessing, these devices are then available for purchase at up to a fifty percent reduction in cost as compared to new devices. Devices used in this program include arthroscopic wands and shavers, bits, blades and burs, laparoscopic instruments, suture passers, trocars, ultrasonic scalpels, and ligature sealer/dividers. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2015 and FY 2016, almost two tons of single use devices were recycled through this process.

The hospital recycled approximately 250 pounds the last two fiscal years of various non-invasive medical devices, including compression sleeves, pneumatic tourniquet cuffs, pulse oximeter sensors, ECG leads and cables, blood pressure cuffs, splints, cervical collars, stethoscopes, and pressure infuser bags. At one point in time, all of these items were disposed of as solid waste, with associated costs and environmental impact.

Calantas added that even by even small changes to the daily norm can collectively impact the command's environmental stewardship effort.

NHB's Facilities Engineering Division undertook a Solid Waste Diversion water foundation project coordinated by the project manager, Gary Crist last year, with the overall goal to reduce the use of disposable plastic drinking water bottles.

The project has been a success. Installed bottle fillers in 14 drinking fountains is reaping ecofriendly benefits. Just one filler has dispensed the equivalent of almost 200 bottles of water in one work week, in theory keeping those 200 bottles out of recycle bins, trash cans and landfills.

Overall, from when the project started on June 20, 2017, to April 16, 2018, an equivalent of 108,784 plastic bottles has been kept out of the environment.

"Each count is equivalent to a 20 ounce water bottle being kept out of our environment. Every little bit helps," explained," said Ramon Calantas Environmental Division.

"That's over 100,000 plastic bottles that didn't get thrown away or thrown out," Mitchell stressed.

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