What a great thing to support the use of solar in a developing country to be used to power a hospital!
In Gambian hospitals where candles sometimes have to be resorted to, the electricity supply is erratic and the generators expensive and dirty - but clean green solar is showing the way forward!
Environment Times has raised money for the NAWFA women farmers organisation in The Gambia previously. This was via our readers in their workplaces recycling printer cartridges and mobile phones. Now that this five year support has run its course, we have teamed up with Power Up Gambia to support their successful use of solar power to bring bring clean, green power to hospital treatment in one of the poorst countries on the planet.
HOW YOU CAN HELP - Join in with our established schemes by:
* RECYLING PRINTER CARTRIDGES
* RECYCLING TONERS
CONGRATULATIONS! To The The Cheshire and Wirral Partnership Foundation NHS Trust (CWP) who have raised £5,800 and counting! Their Environment Manager, Jeannie Metcalfe-Hall, contacted Environment Times a couple of years ago to join in with our printer cartridge recycling scheme. Environment Times have partnered with specialist recyclers KMP Crusader Manufacturing who're based in King's Lynn, Norfolk. They donate a certain percentage in cash for projects from the recycled cartridges we channel their way. And landfill sites are spared being filled with this waste too.
Jeannie Metcalfe-Hall, who has involved NHS Trust offices ranging from Macclesfield to Birkenhead in the project, said: "I think it is amazing that we have raised so much through our empty cartridges. If it hadn’t been for this recycling initiative, in partnership with Environment Times and KMP international recycling re-manufacturer, they would have simply gone in the bin and then polluted landfill.”
Ros Preen, financial director at CWP says: “This is a great cause to get behind and staff at the Trust are really embracing it. It’s unbelievable to think that these cartridges could be disregarded as having no value at all when they can be used to raise such an incredible amount and also benefit the environment.
“The Trust strives to reduce its carbon footprint and operate in the most environmentally friendly way possible. This scheme is just one of many that we have implemented Trust wide and we are always looking at new and innovative ways to promote the protection of our environment to our staff and members.”
FACT:A staggering 66% of used ink cartridges and ink toners end up swelling the contents of UK landfills, that’s 15 million toner and 35 million inkjet cartridges, or 28,000 tonnes of yearly pollution - what a waste!
Returning your cartridges, toners and mobiles in the 'drop box' that we can send you will do something useful to prevent this polluting waste, and depending on cartridge or toner type - will generate between £0.40 to £3.00 directly to Power Up Gambia.
POWER UP GAMBIA'S WORK
PUG explain their work.....Imagine for a minute, you live in The Gambia and you suddenly become very ill. Imagine arriving at a hospital without power.
A hospital with no running water for cleaning and basic sanitation. Sterilization isn’t possible.
A hospital with no laboratory tests, because the machines can’t be turned on.
A hospital that cannot store blood for patient.
A hospital without the electricity to power an incubator, perform an emergency C-section or even provide oxygen to a struggling newborn.
The American founder of PUG, Kathryn Hall, when she was working in the Gambia as a hospital doctor discovered that diesel generators provided limited electricity – when they were running. Fuel for the generators used up 20% of the hospital budget while only providing 8 hours of electricity. The hospital generators frequently broke down, and it could take weeks for parts to arrive.
The Idea – Why not Solar Power? An idea that came from Mr. Kebba Badgie, CEO of Sulayman Junkung Hospital. The Catalyst for Change? Kathryn Hall, founder of PUG.
As of early February 2009 Junkung Hospital has enjoyed reliable green electricity! The panels are producing more energy than expected. And they’re gaining national attention in The Gambia. PUG’s mission is to provide reliable electricity and water to healthcare facilities in The Gambia through solar energy.
Sulayman Junkung Hospital Today
A 12kW solar system with battery and generator backup, providing electricity and clean water for 24 hours a day, seven days a week
PUG’s 2010 Project: Electricity and Water for The Somita Clinic. Their second successful project: A solar power system for the Somita Community clinic
PUG’s next Challenge: Bansang Hospital - and the one where Environment Times and its readers can contribute. Bansang is the most remote hospital in The Gambia. It is the sole hospital for an area of over 600,000 people. Electricity from local diesel generators is expensive, rationed, and unreliable, compromising patient health. So far PUG has helped raise funds and provided expertise for a solar power system in the Pediatric Ward.
The Next Challenge – Reliable electricity for the rest of the hospital - because a resuscitator in the labor ward that cannot be turned on … cannot save the life of a child.
The Next Challenge – Reliable electricity for the rest of the hospital - Because oxygen cylinders can be used when there is no electricity – but eventually the oxygen runs out.
The 2011 Challenge – Help us help Bansang Hospital. Power Up Gambia, in partnership with Environment Times and its readers, challenges groups and individuals to help raise £110,000 to address the next challenges.
HOW YOU CAN GET INVOLVED
Combat our disgraceful throwaway society and divert some of the 66% of used cartridges and toners that end up in landfills to our campaign. These cartridges will be processed, cleaned and re-filled by KMP and the money from our partnership with them will also give direct cash support to the successful work of Power Up Gambia bringing solar power to hospitals in The Gambia.
KMP has for the last 20 years centred around the recovery and recycling of used printer and toner cartridges for their production plants in the UK, Europe and Africa. As such it plays its part of the increasing £multi-billion business of re-manufacturing ink cartridges, diverting them from lying useless in landfills. Despite the plastic and metal they contain taking thousands of years to biodegrade, two thirds of cartridge empties still end up in the bin destined for rubbish dumps!
The number of re-manufactured cartridges sold in the UK now exceeds many millions, and in the case of the UK office of King’s Lynn-based KMP, their cartridges hit the shelves as high street brands meeting the German DIN (Deutsche Industrial Norm) performance standards.
HOW IT WORKS
We would like you to ask us for a ‘drop box’ in your place of work. Standing about three foot tall, these neat cardboard boxes can take sizeable amounts of inkjet and the larger toners too - we arrange with KMP for delivery and collection from your address.
So what happens to your inkjet cartridge after it’s been popped in the envelope or drop box? All recycled cartridges are graded by brand, electronically tested via specialist equipment and once approved, extensively cleaned in preparation for the next production stage. Charity collections are audited and listed with the cash funds released to the charity. The figures can also be useful for evidence in your own Corporate Social Responsibility reporting.
If you are interested in helping by recycling cartridges/toners email The Editor of Environment Times, Duncan Ashcroft: duncan@environmenttimes.co.uk
or to see the work of PUG visit: www.powerupgambia.org
Posted on Environment Times Online on 9th September 2011.
