Proud today to shout out to my friend Melissa Roberts-Faulkner on her acknowledgement as a Sustainability Champion at IU Health! Thanks for all your service in many different roles. Cheers, here's to much more positive impact yet to come!

Here at Indiana University Health, we are committed to sustainability through our dedicated sustainability team and our IU Health Green Team! For 2026 we are working towards Energy Use Intensity (EUI) and waste reduction/recycling goals, increasing employee education and engagement on sustainability topics, and increasing single use device (SUD) collection rates. We are looking forward to this challenge for tips on how to be more sustainable in our personal and professional lives!

some may call me a weed...

I like to think of myself as a...

dynamic aggregator of soil nutrients
deep soil moisture charger
vitamin pill replacer
antioxidant powerhouse
cheap and abundant salad sprucer-upper
spring pollinator appetizer

true that I am not native to the US but that's not my fault! I didn't ask to be brought here. But I am going to bloom where I am planted.

maybe we can all learn something from the dandelion

Kudos to my Green Team pal Rianna for reppin' the Green Team and providing resources to prevent food waste at a clinical dietetics table session yesterday! Keep up the great work! Nutrition is crucial for healthy bodies AND a healthy planet.

Here's a reminder from the National Nutrition Month website on how we can all help to prevent food waste:

https://www.eatright.org/food/planning/food-security-and-sustainability/produce-from-purchase-to-plate-steps-to-reduce-food-waste

Taking a walk around the campus yesterday I was admiring how the snow and the new shoots of the landscaped plants co-existed side by side. It was only later that I realized that most of the plants that were coming up are not native plants to the US. So I did a little research to come up with native substitutes that we could start using in landscaping:

Catmint -> Little Bluestem
https://www.prairiemoon.com/schizachyrium-scoparium-little-bluestem

Hyacinth -> Violet Wood Sorrel
https://www.prairiemoon.com/oxalis-violacea-violet-wood-sorrel

Daffodil -> Michigan Lily
https://www.prairiemoon.com/lilium-michiganense-michigan-lily

What natives do you like?

I'm so excited that tomorrow we have our annual Green Team kickoff in my health care system! So glad to be part of a health system that prioritizes health in every aspect of what we do.

My Ecochallenge Resilience story: Many stories about planetary health make me grieve. As a palliative care chaplain, I have learned that one of the best ways to cope with grief is to find a community of support. it may sound cheesy, but events like the Ecochallenge help to feel part of a tribe, of a group with a common purpose. Thank you to every one of you for your efforts. They make the present and future planet a healthier one for me, my family, and my patients.

I'm super stoked for this year's Ecochallenge! Last year, we at IU Health showed out, and I trust we will again this year. Our efforts are helping us make Indiana one of the healthiest states in the nation.