Nganampa Health Council is aware that every activity we undertake has an impact on the environment. We operate in a harsh desert climate and are concerned about the impact that global warming will have on our patients, our staff and our operations.
The nature and location of our work means as an organisation we use large amounts of energy. However despite these obstacles, in recent years Nganampa Health Council has instigated a number of initiatives to reduce out impact on the environment. These include:
Over recent years our vehicle fleet has been restructured. We have replaced larger 4WD vehicles with smaller vehicles, including smaller 4WDs. This has greatly reduced the fuel we use. We intend to continue to reduce the number of large 4WD vehicles we have. In fact despite large increases in the price of fuel, our total fuel bill is lower today than it was four years ago.
Our web site is used to disseminate information to the wider public. Our Annual Report is now available electronically from this site. This has allowed us to reduce the numbers of reports that are printed, as well as reducing the number of pages. Last years report was printed on recycled paper. As well as the environmental benefits, our printing costs have been reduced.
Our intranet site is used for publishing policies to our staff and paper copies of policies are no longer kept in workplaces.
We are using web based meeting technology to provide computer support and host meetings. This will help to reduce the amount of travel.
Currently we are managing two water initiatives through the Community Water scheme. One project is looking at reducing our water consumption by storing bleeding from our air conditioning systems into irrigation cells where it will be available for trees. The second project will install UV treatment systems on rainwater tanks. This will provide a safe, clean source of drinking water. It is estimated that combined these two projects will save 1.8 million litres of water per annum.
Electricity bills are now being monitored monthly and comparisons are being conducted between the different sites.
We are supportive of initiatives that aim to increase the amount of recycling on the APY Lands and will participate in these initiatives. A paper recycling scheme operates in our Alice Springs office.
The Communicare Patient Information Recall System has been implemented across our clinics. The majority of suppliers are paid electronically and pay slips can also be received via email. These initiatives will reduce the amount of paper we use.
We are investigating options for installing solar power as a second power supply for some of our buildings. As well as reducing our impact on the environment, it has the potential to save us money, and provide a backup power supply at times when there are power outages. We are keen to speak to any organisations who could assist either technically or with finance.
We are increasingly using buses to transport our patients to appointments rather than aircraft.
We will continue to investigate options for reducing our impact on the environment and will use our website as a way of reporting on these activities.
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Environment 
