Positively Green

Bike Week (10^th-16^th June) is the UK’s biggest awareness-raising moment of the year for cycling. It’s a time to remind ourselves of all the positives that riding a bike can bring, including boosting communities’ health and wellbeing, as well as the reduction in air pollution and fuel consumption which is good for the planet. To mark the occasion, we caught up with one of our #bikeheros Matthew, a Clinical Research Nurse, and a member of our Bicycle User Group (BUG).

As a team, we recognise the interconnectedness between wellbeing and nature and have previously featured several examples of their crossover on the blog. The latest joint project is the Learning from Excellence card design competition where a panel of three judges will be selecting three winning nature images to use for the card designs, with an additional £20 gift voucher for the winners.

UHP’s sustainability team and the IPCT team are aligned on the importance of reducing unnecessary glove use. Throughout May, we will be rasing awareness of the infection risk associated with inappropriate glove use and the subsequent plastic pollution this causes. 

The Mustard Tree Macmillan Cancer support centre is a hub of psychological and physiological support for cancer patients and their families. We caught up with Helen a physiotherapist, Annie a horticultural therapist and Ellie a counsellor to find out about the green prescribing courses they offer.

Being such a large organisation with many different clinical pathways and administration processes, we rely on eagle eyed Green Champions to spot where sustainable changes could be made. One such champ is Edward who works in the prepping team for Orthopaedics and Rheumatology.

At first glance, women’s rights and the fight against climate change are two separate issues, but since the 1960s, the ecofeminist movement has been highlighting how gender inequality intersects with the environmental crisis.

UHP’s bimonthly Sustainability Sub-Committee always features a sustainability success story delivered by a member of staff. During February’s sub-committee we were delighted to hear from our Therapies manager who explained the Trust’s process for reusing and recycling walking aids such as crutches.

If you’re struggling to commit to your intensive New Year exercise routine, it might be worth taking up walking instead. Why not pledge to park at the George Park and Ride and walk down to the hospital? Embrace your inner Anne Elliot and repeat after us: ‘“I walk: I prefer walking”’.

We know that lots of colleagues have limited access to emails and screen time. As a result, the Team has launched a ‘Green Board’ scheme. Each month, we’ll put together a pack of posters, pdfs, and flyers that staff can pin to noticeboards, post to their Teams/Whatsapp chats and put in pigeonholes.

If you’re feeling the January blues, be comforted by the thought that nature is still, for the most part, lying dormant. Does it make sense to try new things and make big changes to our lives whilst the natural world around us sleeps?