Sustainability Action Week 2022

The Sustainability Action Week took place for the second time - this time in November 2022. The aim was to highlight the impact the USB has on the environment and give employees tips on how to act sustainably in their everyday lives.

On the one hand, the exhibition highlighted the progress that the USB has made in the area of sustainability. One example of this is the topic of energy: a lighting installation impressively demonstrated how much can be saved by switching to LEDs. In addition, by switching to new water dispensers, the University Hospital Basel consumes 90,000 PET bottles per liter less each year.

Employees were encouraged to take action for greater sustainability here and now through various hands-on activities: For example, they were able to calculate their personal "Earth Overshoot Day". This is the day on which a person has theoretically used up all the natural resources that the earth can provide within a year. Employees were also encouraged to return forgotten crockery to the restaurants during the week. Almost 650 cups, plates and cutlery were collected, which paid off in several ways: resources and costs for purchasing new crockery were saved, and the USB donated a certain amount to a myclimate project for each piece of crockery.

Employees also got involved behind the kitchen counter: they served their favorite vegan and vegetarian dishes to draw attention to the double benefit of these menus: they have a smaller ecological footprint and prevent a number of non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and hypertension.

In addition to these successes, the exhibition also raised awareness of issues where there is still a need for action. Large piles of printer paper, paper towels and PET bottles were displayed to make the consumption of resources visible and to present possible solutions. For example, the printer settings are now to be switched to double-sided black and white printing to reduce consumption.

As the Sustainability Action Week met with great interest among employees, ideas are already being collected for another edition of the action week in 2023.