Operation EcoPen Launched at Mount Sinai Hospital

Luke and I were so excited to be present for the launch of Operation EcoPen at Mount Sinai Hospital.  We made 35 boxes distributed throughout the hospital. We're so grateful to Tracey Clatworthy, Brenda O'Connor and the Sinai Green Team for all their support!

Making Sinai Health System Greener One Recycled Pen at a Time

This week, Mount Sinai Hospital joined a growing number of hospitals participating in Operation EcoPen, an effort to collect and recycle used pens, pencils, highlighters and markers. The young brains behind this operation, Derek, and Luke Nguyen, are sons of Dr. Geoffrey Nguyen, Staff Gastroenterologist at Mount Sinai. The brothers, aged 12 and 10, came up with this idea while on their summer vacation last year, after seeing their mother recycle her old pens. “Most people just throw away their old pens,” notes Luke. “But we aim to make Sinai Health System and the planet a lot greener by simply recycling old pens,” explains Derek. EcoPen collection boxes are located on top of confidential shredding bins by Mount Sinai’s Murray Street elevators. Pens are then recycled by TerraCycle, who also donates two cents per pen to Earth Day Canada. Operation EcoPen will be launching at Bridgepoint shortly.