2018 Sustainability Report

Update shows 2018 successes, upcoming projects, and a new, interactive dashboard

By Melanie Stewart

When we updated our Sustainability Master Plan goals to be more ambitious and have an (earlier) 2030 deadline, we made a commitment to providing consistent, transparent data.

In the past we’ve had a ‘widget’ on our webpage, which allowed you to click on a topic, see the original goal, and the progress towards the goal in graph form.  It also listed a few, key ways to reach the goals that were listed in the Sustainability Master Plan.  Those strategies were not necessarily what had been working on, but were important to note.

We provided regular articles, like the one you are reading now, as well as a status report in 2015.  It was good, but we thought we could do better.

I’m happy to share with you our brand new dashboard, with the annual report.  This page is the (calendar year) 2018 annual report with a brief intro at the top and then the dashboard.  The dashboard is in an easy to read format, with the goal distinctly visible, and the progress shown in red on the circle with numerical value in the middle.  Once the circle is closed, we will have met our goal.  The dashboard will be updated on the main page each quarter.

You can click on any goal area to get more information—the actions taken in 2018 to move forward on our goals, explanations of numbers, more detailed data, and upcoming initiatives for 2019.  The main page will tell you what percentage of material we recycle/divert from the landfill, but the additional information can tell you exactly what is being recycled.

The report/dashboard can be viewed by clicking here.

I hope you will take a look.  Everyone’s actions on campus help us to achieve our goals and knowing where we stand is an important piece.

Ever wondered why sustainability is important to the Med Center, or if it’s tied to our mission?  It is directly tied to our mission of “creating a healthy future for all”.  For an explanation, read this or this.