Award Win for Otolaryngology

Please join us in congratulating the staff and students from Otolaryngology in the Department of Surgery, who were winners in the Green Impact program 2019.

This year, the Department of Otolaryngology’s Green Impact Team received the Gold award, Gold Labs, and First Place overall at the 2019 Green Impact Awards, along with our Project Assistant, George He, receiving the Student Champion award.

Our Green Impact team strives to make our department as sustainable as possible. We’ve long been committed to reducing our impact on the environment and were excited to join the university’s Green Impact Program last year, placing third overall. In 2018 we also applied for and received a Green Fund grant to replace some of our old refrigerating units with newer, energy efficient models.

Our biggest challenges are reducing our waste and finding alternative solutions to traditional waste streams. By working as a team, we have been leading by example and have seen changes in the personal habits of staff and increased curiosity in the department. For example, by collecting soft plastics we’ve been able to spread awareness of not only how and where people can give to RedCycle at home, but highlighted just how pervasive this sort of plastic is. It has been so rewarding to hear about changes and actions our colleagues are taking on at home thanks to the promotion of sustainable ideas by the Green Team.