Now available to other organizations, new Providence toolkit shows how to use technology to support environmental goals
Working toward its goal of carbon negative by 2030, Providence’s Information Services team has packaged its proven IT energy-saving, equipment reuse, enterprise print, computer endpoint and supply chain practices into a toolkit other organizations can use to cut energy use, reduce waste and lower costs.
Made publicly available on Providence’s Center for Environmental Stewardship, the toolkit offers practical ways that technology can be used to benefit environmental goals, generate enterprise savings and support a commitment to affordability and environmental stewardship.
“The toolkit is more of a pragmatic kind of guide to show how small actions can create macro-economics,” said Wasif Jamal, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Infrastructure Services, Providence. “It’s a way to educate our communities and other technology and business leaders that environmental stewardship isn’t just a political issue or a mountain to climb. There are actions we can take every single day to benefit the enterprise and community, and the toolkit lays out some of these approaches and activities.”
Some of the strategies in the toolkit, such as transitioning to newer, more efficient hardware and scheduling sleep times for equipment, are simple but can offer big impacts in energy reduction.
“We use software and automation to put our servers to sleep during low-consumption periods when nobody is using them,” he said. “We also use software to right-size equipment like servers and other storage devices. If we send out a server with a certain amount of memory and space, and we realize after 90 or 120 days that the team’s workload doesn’t need all of it, we’ll go back through automation and right-size it which saves cost and power utilization. Being thoughtful and these everyday actions around choosing the most efficient technology, right-sizing and snoozing helps us save energy and give back to our communities.”
Re-use of equipment is another strategy in the toolkit. Under Jamal’s leadership, Providence has extended the usable life of many computers and laptops by up to seven years — assessing devices for continued performance, then refurbishing, updating and redeploying them when appropriate.
“As long as the software supports the device, we can maintain it,” he said. “When a caregiver leaves after six months or a couple of years, we don’t have to recycle or dispose of the equipment assigned to them. We can spend $50 to clean it up and put it back on the shelf, where another team can order it for just $50. So, we’re avoiding filling the recycle bins and landfills and getting them into someone else’s hands for a much lower cost.”
IS implemented this practice in 2025, an approach that helped Providence save $2.3 million in 2025 and are expected to generate an additional $1.5 million in savings in the first quarter of 2026.
The refurbished device program is part of a larger holistic strategy which includes using Providence’s purchasing power to buy environmentally preferred and sustainable devices. This reduces the energy consumed while devices are using data to adjust sleep and power policies.
When a device is truly exhausted, Providence disposes of it properly using its IT Hardware Reclamation program. Since 2022, Providence has reclaimed nearly 1,900 tons of e-waste — the equivalent of 8 Statues of Liberty — diverting it from landfills through our responsible partnership.
“Environmental stewardship aligns with our core values,” Jamal said. “When we think about our value of excellence and giving back to our communities, we don’t just do that by offering excellent care every day. We also give back by helping protect the environment our caregivers and patients live in. Everything we do from a technology standpoint impacts Providence and the communities we serve — either negative, or beneficial and healing — so we start a lot of our initiatives through the lens of environmental stewardship for the benefit of our communities and the land.”
Jamal believes that everyone can take actions — large or small — to benefit the planet every day. When it comes to technology, that means using efficient hardware which uses less energy, and software which puts computers and other hardware to sleep when they’re not being used. There are also opportunities to look at each service through an environmental lens and make changes to support environmental goals, such as enterprise print and digital signage strategies which have saved more than 1,300 trees in paper waste reduction.
“I’m truly impressed with the impact these teams have made,” Jamal said. “We asked them to adapt and innovate with the environment in mind, and they have delivered not only benefits to the environment and our communities but have created a model by which others can make a difference, too.”
“Wasif’s leadership and this toolkit are an example of the innovation that’s possible to support our communities and our planet,” said Beth Schenk, chief environmental stewardship officer. “He and I are very much aligned on the principle that we can all take actions to address climate change. He’s an incredible partner and we’re honored to work with him and his team.”
