SUSTAINABILITY

...Through Education

Through our RUMS program, InterVol focuses heavily on education healthcare professionals, students, and patients about unnecessary medical waste and what they can do to prevent it. We have been actively involved in Earth Day celebrations at Rochester General Hospital for over two decades, we continually seek out new locations for our donation bins, and we consistently promote volunteer opportunities - all in an effort to educate the public about the importance of reducing waste.

...Through Innovation

The RUMS program was the first project of its kind in Rochester in the 1980s; no one else was collecting unused medical supplies - people were barely even recycling yet. Throughout the years, our unique organization has encouraged the reduction of waste in our local health system through more efficient ordering systems and a higher level of accountability in sustainability efforts. 

...Through Effectiveness

In 2017 alone, we diverted over 16 tons of medical supplies from a landfill fate and instead dispersed them among communities, both local and global, that truly needed them. Last year we shipped over 25% of our inventory to countries including Belize, Dominican Republic, Ghana, Haiti, Kenya, Liberia, St. Lucia, and Ukraine. Reducing landfill waste by giving these supplies a new home has positive effects on biodiversity, soil fertility, health, and air and groundwater pollution levels in the Rochester area.

...Through Community

Those new to our organization – whether they are donors, volunteers, or staff – are usually shocked to learn how much waste is produced in the healthcare system and quickly take to spreading the word. Our name is known to most in the Rochester Regional Health system as well as the University of Rochester Medical Center system. Our volunteers and donors are working to broadcast our mission outside of hospital walls to hospice care, home healthcare, individuals, and many others so that unnecessary medical waste in Rochester can be a thing of the past.