Wellness Watch Blog April 2010

Here in Massachusetts March ended with torrential, flood-causing rain and April came in with record warm temperatures that reminded most of us of June. The jury is still out on whether this weather pattern is attributed to global warming or just an unusual weather occurrence. At any rate it does lead us to think about our environment and how we are taking care of it or abusing it.

April 22, 2010 is the 40^th anniversary of Earth Day which was started in 1970 by Senator Gaylord Nelson. Its purpose is to promote ecology and respect for life on earth and to encourage awareness of the growing problems of air, water and soil pollution. Today many individuals and corporations are taking on Senator Nelson’s cause. Although conserving, recycling and reusing don’t seem to fit into a traditional corporate wellness program, they rightfully belong there because of how they impact our health and that of generations to come.  Many organizations have sustainability committees that are looking for ways to put into practice these efforts.  Some examples of activities already underway in our client organizations are:

• Genzyme and National Grid have award-winning green buildings
• Millennium Pharmaceuticals:  A Takeda Company has a “Think before You Print” campaign and has all biodegradable cups and packaging in its cafeteria and company-wide to reduce waste
• Haemonetics recycled 20 tons of paper in 2009
• WR Grace has black and white and double printing default settings on all its printers
• Harvard Pilgrim Health Care is composting food waste and most of its cafeteria paper products in the cafeteria kitchen and dining area which is taken away and used by local farms

During the week of April 19-23, in honor of Earth Day, Fitness Works at Work is working with Soles4Souls, an organization that takes new and gently used shoes and donates them to people all over the world who desperately need footwear.  Our on-site fitness leaders and health promotion specialists will be staffing tables in our client companies and taking shoe donations from employees. We thank our clients Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Art Technology Group, Fresenius Medical Care North American, Smith & Nephew, Ocean Spray, Dunkin Brands, Flir Systems, The MathWorks, and W.  R. Grace for partnering with us in this effort.

Consider celebrating Earth Day this year. Organize a community clean-up, host a company-wide recycling drive, and sponsor an eco-friendly information fair with agencies and vendors who support sustainability. What can you and your organization do to conserve, reduce and reuse?