Greener patient - what you can do
We all need good health – and so does the planet. Currently the NHS contributes around five per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions – but it’s also the first healthcare system in the world to commit to becoming net zero.
While we will do what we can to help our environment, there are a few ways you can help.
- Recycling - Empty plastic and foil tablet packets can be returned to Superdrug for recycling and inhalers should be returned to your pharmacy so that any propellent – which can be a powerful greenhouse gas – can be destroyed or, even better, recycled for use in refrigeration.
- Refill - Bring your own water bottle or reusable cup. Tap water in all our hospitals is safe for drinking, and you can ask our food outlets to put your coffee in your own mug rather than give you a disposable cup.
- Greener travel - Could you use public transport to get to your appointment? Or could your visitors? If you live within cycling distance, there are bike racks at all our sites.
- Green space - We have worked with Biophilic Wales to create green spaces across our sites. At Morriston there is a grass-roofed round house down the hill from the multi-storey car park. At Neath Port Talbot Hospital there are benches next to the ponds where you can enjoy some fresh air, and the 200-acre Singleton Park borders Singleton Hospital.
- Look after yourself - Prevention is better than cure – for you and the planet! Some simple steps you can take to improve your health and tread more lightly on the earth, from stopping smoking to walking or cycling where you can, and eating a more plant-based diet.
Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth a galwadau ffôn yn y Gymraeg neu'r Saesneg. Atebir gohebiaeth Gymraeg yn y Gymraeg, ac ni fydd hyn yn arwain at oedi. Mae’r dudalen hon ar gael yn Gymraeg drwy bwyso’r botwm ar y dde ar frig y dudalen.
We welcome correspondence and telephone calls in Welsh or English. Welsh language correspondence will be replied to in Welsh, and this will not lead to a delay. This page is available in Welsh by clicking ‘Cymraeg’ at the top right of this page.