MEDIA RELEASE

Kaiser Permanente Hawaii has announced its donation of $300,000 of reusable construction materials to Re-use Hawaii, a non-profit organization working to reduce waste through building material reuse and recycling. Donated materials include lighting, cabinetry, electrical fixtures, plumbing, doors, window frames and more.

“We are grateful for Re-use Hawaii and their mission to increase the environmental sustainability of our island, and planet, through the practice of reuse,” said Janet Liang, president of Kaiser Permanente Hawaii. “Having the means to eliminate, reduce, reuse and recycle byproducts from any construction projects we undertake is critical, especially for an island community, and we are always proud to partner with local organizations and community initiatives that are in line with our environmental stewardship efforts.”

Quinn Vittum, co-director of Re-use Hawaii, said: “We are very thankful for Kaiser Permanente Hawaii’s commitment to the environment and their generous donation of reusable materials. Reusing these materials instead of disposing of them helps to divert waste from landfills, saves trees and energy, and reduces green house gas emissions. We’re honored to partner with Kaiser Permanente Hawaii to turn waste into a resource.”

Kaiser Permanente has a long history of environmental stewardship. The organization builds greener facilities, strives to purchase non-toxic materials, and supports sustainable agriculture.

The organization’s electronic health record system, Kaiser Permanente HealthConnect, also helps preserve resources and trim waste. By replacing paper medical charts and digitizing X-ray images through this system, the organization has been able to save more than 1,000 tons of paper waste and avoid more than 200,000 pounds of X-ray film per year.

Since becoming operational in 2007, Re-use Hawaii has performed more than 150 deconstruction projects and kept well more than 1500 tons of good, reusable material out of local landfills. Salvage material from deconstruction projects, along with surplus material donated from the community, is redistributed to the community at the Re-use Hawaii Warehouse, a 25,000 square foot facility, located in Kakaako Makai.

For more information about Kaiser Permanente’s environmental efforts, visit: www.kp.org/green

Lighting was among some the reusable construction materials which was donated to Re-Use Hawaii by Kaiser Permanente Hawaii. (Photo courtesy of Re-Use Hawaii)