12 August 2015

Wellington Hospital raises a cup to HOSPI

Wellington Hospital has taken another step towards environmental sustainability by introducing a biodegradable alternative for the 1.3 million polystyrene cups patients, staff, and visitors consume each year.

Between 110,000 – 130,000 cups are consumed at the hospital each month. These cups end up in landfills, where they can take up to 500 years to biodegrade.

Now their environmental impact has been reduced significantly thanks to the Wellington Hospitals Foundation, which is providing biodegradable ‘BioCups’ branded with its mascot Hospi the Lion.

BioCups are paper cups coated with a compostable bioplastic derived from corn starch. They will replace all the polystyrene cups in use at Wellington Hospital in staff and patient areas, such as the water cooler in the Emergency Department waiting room.

The idea was proposed by Capital & Coast District Health Board’s sustainability group, which was formed in 2012 to see how the DHB can be more environmentally-friendly.

Group chair and Nursing and Midwifery director Andrea McCance says “Bioplastic degrades faster than polystyrene but it’s also more expensive, and we wouldn’t have been able to make the switch without funding support from the Wellington Hospitals Foundation.”

Foundation chair Bill Day says the group approached him after having their sights set on greener cups for some time.

“It’s a great use of the funds generated through the Foundation’s gift shop, which benefits patients and the environment.”

“HOSPI is our official mascot and this gives us the opportunity to extend his profile, not just for sick children but also the thousands of adult patients that our hardworking hospital staff attend to each day.”

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