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Reusable Textiles:
 The Responsible Choice -- Because
the Future Is NOT Disposable!
www.ARTA1.com |
Click Here for Overview of Green Summit and Photos.....
THANK YOU Green Summit Sponsors for Helping ARTA Hold a Great Conference!
Platinum
Sponsors: ABS Systems, American
Laundry Systems, Ecolab, Encompass, EnviroHealthcare, Gurtler
Industries, Harco Co., International Association for Healthcare Textile
Management, Jensen USA, Kannegiesser-USA, Medline, MIP, W.L. Gore.
Gold
Sponsors: Baltic Linen, Chicago Dryer, Eurotape, ITG/Burlington, Pellerin
Milnor, Precision Fabric Group, Positek, Standard Textile, The Dober Group.
TableTop
Sponsors: American Dawn, Energenics, Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council,
Kemco Systems, Lac-Mac, Venus Textile.
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ARTA Green Summit LCAs Give Reusable Textiles
the Advantage over Disposables
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Mission,
KS -- The American Reusable
Textile Association (ARTA) recently held a sold out Green Summit in Quebec
City, July 22-23, drawing more than 130 attendees including
international attendees from the Netherlands, South Africa and New Zealand. The
education conference was the largest ARTA has held to date. Prior education
conferences were held in 2006 in Indianapolis and 2008 in Durham, N.C.
ARTA President Steve Tinker  | "Our goal in holding the Green Summit was to begin a dialogue
within the industry on how we can best meet sustainability challenge and begin
to take advantage of opportunities in 2010 and beyond," said ARTA president,
Steve Tinker of Gurtler Industries.
NEW LCAs GIVE ADVANTAGE TO REUSABLES
At the Green Summit, researchers presented two
new Life Cycle Analyses (LCAs). Both gave reusable textiles an
environmental advantage over disposable single-use items.
The University of
Minnesota's A.J. Van den Berghe presented LCA research, but began his session by defining the term life cycle assessment and providing an overview of the process used by the university's Technical Assistance Program (MnTAP) in
evaluating the human and environmental impacts of reusable surgical gowns versus
a single-use disposable surgical gown. While acknowledging the limitations of any LCA
(results are dependent on data quality and availability, software used,
geographic differences, etc.), Van den Berghe shared that in every category,
with the exception of issues related to water usage, the reusable surgical gown
trumped the disposable gown by an average of 50%.
He also elaborated on the case study conducted
at the University of Minnesota's Fairview Hospital in 2009 (see chart below). This
study showed reusable surgical gowns:
· Reduce waste -- produce
1/6th the waste of disposables
· Save money and cost less
-- Reusable gowns saved Fairview $360,000 in one year, and provided more than 20% in
savings per adjusted patient day.
Dr. Mike Overcash from University of Wichita presented his
preliminary research findings, which also show a cradle-to-grave advantage for
reusable textiles. Dr. Overcash will provide an update on his findings in
September at the TRSA Healthcare/Plant Tech Summit, September 27-30 in Las
Vegas. ARTA will post final research findings on its website as soon as the
information is available.
WATER USAGE IS OUR CHALLENGE
Both LCA studies show water usage as the area
with the greatest environmental and human impacts. However, the LCAs do not
take into account that the majority of laundries reuse and pre-treat water
before returning it to their Publicly Owned Treatment Waterworks. "We have an
excellent opportunity  to inform clients that we are guardians of water," says Nancy
Jenkins, executive director of ARTA. "Indeed, the majority of the water that laundries use is pass-through or Green-loop water (i.e., it isn't entirely used up, but rather
returned back for reuse again and again)." Jenkins also noted that industry has
been and continues to proactively improve the quality of wastewater and
energy/resource usage through such programs as TRSA's Laundry Environmental
Stewardship Program (Laundry ESP).
WHAT'S THE FUSS ABOUT LCA AND GOING GREEN?
The need to secure LCA data is critical in
helping the industry make a case for its clients to use or increase the use of
reusable textiles. And market indicators reveal that reusables as a Green
Advantage will become an even greater issue in the near future.
Don Pedder and Judy Reino of Reino Linen and Brendan O'Neill of London Hospital Linen (center) outlined their Green marketing programs and the effect on their bottom line.  | "While 'Green' has become
a tagline used to market everything from toothpaste to credit cards, there are
solid market indicators that show 'Going Green' is more than a trend," said
Tinker
Tinker cited several
examples that indicate ALL industries would need to meet the sustainability
challenge -- Green their own operations and quantify the Green benefits of their
products and services:
· CEOs from more than 100 major U.S.
corporations met this spring at a conference sponsored by The Wall Street
Journal to discuss sustainability strategies.
· Since 2009, Wal-Mart has required all its
suppliers to provide a Sustainability Scorecard, which shows they are running
as Green an operation as possible and working toward improving their "score."
· Proctor & Gamble has followed suit this
June and introduced a similar requirement of suppliers.
· According to Summit Energy, a sustainability
management company, two major hospital companies are now developing
sustainability scorecards for their suppliers.
· It's been predicted that within 5 to 6 years,
all products will include a Green label, similar to the nutritional labels we
now find on our food.
Look for new marketing and education tools from ARTA that incorporate the new LCA data. For more information: www.arta1.com.
Click here for an overview of the Green Summit and photos. . .
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| | ARTA Offers Advertising Opportunities in Reusable Textiles and ARTA eNews
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Due to requests from supplier members, the ARTA board of directors recently met to discuss and approve offering advertising in its quarterly newsletter, Reusable Textiles, and its bimonthly eNews. For more information on rates and ad availability, click here to read ARTA's Advertising Policy for 2010.
ARTA will offer up to one page of advertising in its newsletter (four 1/4 pages, two 1/2 pages or one full page). No more than four banner ads will be allowed in the ARTA eNews.
Questions? Contact Executive Director Nancy Jenkins or visit the ARTA website: www.arta1.com.
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TRSA/ARTA Healthcare Summit Set for
Sept. 28-29 in Las Vegas
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Textile Rental Services Association of America (TRSA) is planning a combination Healthcare and Tech/Plant Summit
at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Sept. 28-30. ARTA will assist in providing
speakers for the healthcare portion of the Summit on Sept. 28-29. The Summit
will focus on technology and plant issues Sept. 29-30. ARTA
members can attend the Summit at TRSA member prices! "Healthcare is
in growth mode, and that's only likely to increase as the reforms
Congress recently passed lead to more people accessing medical
services," said TRSA Director of Industry Affairs Bill Mann. "What TRSA
is trying to do is bring together experts from across the world of
healthcare and provide one venue where members can learn, so they can
share in the growth in this sector." The Healthcare Conference will kick off at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 28, with a keynote address by Charles Marshall, a prominent motivational speaker and humorist. Marshall is also known for his book, "Shattering the Glass Slipper," which makes the case that anyone can succeed if they make up their minds to harness their own "seven powers." REGISTER NOW!Attendees must register
separately for each segment of the Summit (Healthcare and Tech/Plant). The
three-day summit will feature education sessions, plant tours and a trade
fair/reception. Sessions will cover healthcare reform, disaster recovery plans,
CMS Guidelines and new LCA data on reusables versus disposables. For more information, contact
TRSA's Bill Mann at bmann@trsa.org. |
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ARTA · P.O. Box 1142 · Mission, KS 66222 · 863/660-5350 · www.arta1.com
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