See you at CleanMed 2015?
By Carol Baroudi
Not all conferences are created equal, and CleanMed is one of my very favorites. Some of the founding members of Practice Greenhealth and Healthcare without Harm, the conference organizers, were early adopters of environmentally responsible IT asset disposition (ITAD). In fact, to a large extent, they inspired it (http://blog.arrowvaluerecovery.com/itad-owes-healthcare/).
It shouldn’t come as a shock that the healthcare-aware cottoned on to the health risks associated with electronics somewhat ahead of the curve, or that they were more attuned to the issues of social and environmental justice related to electronics disposal than mainstream corporations of the day. Even before investigative reports like CBS News’ Electronic Wasteland (November 2008) did much to raise public awareness, leading hospitals were taking active steps to protect people and the planet from health risks associated with electronics.
This year, I’m presenting at CleanMed on a panel called “Green Growth” Strategies for Healthcare Information Technology: Lifecycle Management to Reduce Environmental Impact. Joining me on the panel are Sarah O’Brien, Director of Global Community Development at the Green Electronics Council in Portland; Sister Mary Ellen Leciejewski, Director of Ecology at Dignity Health; and Vanessa Lochner, Director of Environmentally Preferable Purchasing at Kaiser Permanente.
Both Kaiser and Dignity Health have long histories of addressing the environmental impacts of technology, and the Green Electronics Council has been driving these kinds of initiatives for many years. We’ll cover everything from device selection to end-of-life disposition, including a way in which electronics and healthcare are finding their way into the circular economy.
Will you be there? Drop me a line at cbaroudi@arrow.com so we can be sure to connect.
