North Shore-LIJ makes Earth Day pledge

On the eve of Earth Day, the North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System signed a pledge Wednesday with federal officials to reduce waste, increase energy efficiency and make everyday operations more sustainable at its 12 hospitals here and in New York City.

The five-year agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency aims to limit the environmental footprint of the sprawling hospital system through the use of products such as dual-flush toilets and motion-sensitive lights. The first such pact was signed last September with Stony Brook University Medical Center, which has since nearly tripled the amount of solid waste it recycles, agency officials said.

"You stepped out first here on Long Island," EPA regional administrator Judith Enck said at a news conference in Manhasset.

Under the pact, North Shore-LIJ will look at installing solar panels and whether to compost food waste. Its construction projects will try to use materials that come from within 500 miles of the site and minimize construction debris going to landfills.

Hospital officials said those and other adjustments could produce substantial changes, given the size of the system and the 24-hour-a-day nature of the health-care business. North Shore-LIJ employs more than 38,000 people and uses $100 million worth of energy each year, said Maurice LaBonne, the system's senior vice president of facilities.

"We are a large consumer and in some ways a contributor to environmental challenges here on Long Island in terms of air, water and just our employees getting back and forth to work every day," LaBonne said.

To address that, the hospital group has pledged to minimize the number of new parking spots to encourage car pools and public transportation use.

Enck said such changes would be a concrete step toward improving air quality on Long Island, where, she said, 49,000 children suffer from asthma. "These benefits are going to be felt globally and locally."