VSP is “going green.” We’ve all heard about the effects of global warming on the environment, and the negative impact that businesses (and specifically buildings) can have. According to the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), 12 percent of the water used, 30 percent of the greenhouse gases produced, 65 percent of waste output and 70 percent of electricity consumption in the U.S. comes from buildings.
We’re doing our part by earning the USGBC’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum level certification. When completed, VSP will be one of only a handful of buildings in California with this certification.
Our ultimate goal is to be more environmentally conscious and operate our buildings more efficiently. This also supports our ongoing focus of maintaining competitive administrative costs to allow more patients access to affordable vision care. Since September 2007 we’ve taken many steps to accomplish this, including:
- Installing low-flow plumbing fixtures and water meters, and reducing our landscape watering by 50 percent.
- Giving each employee a permanent water and coffee cup to eliminate the nearly 767,000 Styrofoam cups used on campus each year.
- Installing automatic paper towel dispensers in restrooms.
- Implementing energy upgrades and processes to monitor and reduce our energy use and carbon emissions.
- Replacing large trash cans with smaller ones that clip onto recycling receptacles, encouraging employees to recycle more.
- Using more products made of recycled materials.
We’re excited about these changes and how we can positively impact the environment. Please share your ideas with us and what you’re doing to “go green.”
I am very disappointed with this company. I have never had vision insurance before, but there were problems when I did the application on line and I never put my dependants name and info in. But I continue to pay for the services. When I found this out I spoke with one of their reps who advised that it would take 48 to 72 hours to have this information verified to have the dependant placed on the website. It has now been more than 4 days and they still have done nothing. At this time they will not even return my phone calls. I feel this the wrong way to do business and infact, this is how insurance companies get bad names. Your supervisors don’t do what they are supposed to do.
Doctors need to be more pro-active in how their staff is treating their patients and why patients are not returning for their eye health exams. This is a BIG problem in the competitive business of eye care. I think many are forgetting that "personal care" is very important and the 5 minute exam is not going to keep long-term patients.
Kudos to you. Clearly, you see green. Thank you.
Great job VSP! Glad to see that you’re taking a leadership role in the region to reduce your carbon footprint. You should tell others about your efforts so that we can begin a trend in the Sacramento valley beginning with the Highway 50 corridor.
How about a toll free number on your website. That would be helpful.