Sustainability
Vision for Life Institute is committed to being a sustainable centre of excellence. While eye surgery is life-changing for our patients, it does unfortunately come at an environmental cost. Cataract surgery, which is by far the most common operation our surgeons perform, has a high carbon footprint. Every cataract surgery results in the release of approximately 50kg of CO2 into the atmosphere. The average person in Australia has an annual carbon footprint of approximately 1.5 tonnes of CO2. Given that our surgeons at Vision for Life Institute perform thousands of cataract operations per year, the extent of our carbon footprint can be appreciated.
To counteract this, Vision for Life Institute has employed Dina Torres Giraldo in a full-time capacity to be our Director of Sustainability. Dina is an Environmental Engineer Dina is based in CaiCay, Peru located approximately 1 hour outside of Cusco. Dina studied Engineering at Universidad Andina del Cusco and then a Masters of Science at Universidad Continental.
What work will VFLI be undertaking in the Peruvian Andes?
Located high in the Peruvian Andes, CaiCay, has suffered significant deforestation over many years. The loss of one tree species in particular has been acutely felt by local communities and has resulted in serious difficulties with water security. Polylepsis, a native tree of the high Andes, has an incredible ability to absorb water in its immediate vicinity. Acting like a sponge these trees absorb water during periods of rain and then slowly release water over days and weeks to communities below where it can be captured for drinking water and agriculture. Due to widespread deforestation and the lack of Polylepsis forests, communities in the high Andes face serious difficulties with water security as rainwater now rapidly disappears to lower areas leaving water scarce for locals.
Our Director of Sustainability, Dina Torres Giraldo, is working with these organisations to restore Polylepsis forests to Caicay and the surrounding region. In this way, Vision for Life Institute aims to realise our goal of being a sustainable centre by offsetting our carbon emissions with carbon sequestration via reforestation as well as improving water security for communities in the Peruvian Andes.
