Great resources for healthcare environmental sustainability by The Joint Commission. https://www.jointcommission.org/resources/sustainable-healthcare/sustainable-healthcare-resource-center/

Telemedicine is a helpful tool in environmental sustainability efforts: Studies found an environmental benefit of telemedicine vs. face-to-face consultations through reduced greenhouse gas emissions from travel.

An option for reducing your single use paper products is to use fabric instead. I found this shop on Amazon originally and love these for napkins and cloth to put in with lettuce to absorb the extra moisture. Best part is I color code for different holidays and seasons! What kind of swaps have you made?
GinasSoftClothShop

Sharing durable assets, such as transportation fleets, buildings, medical equipment and other under-utilized assets can make healthcare operations more environmentally sustainable. For example, a company called Floow2 has developed a sharing marketplace that allows healthcare organizations to share their equipment among hospitals in their network. This reduces expenditure on expensive equipment like imaging machines, as well as the amount of time that expensive equipment sits unused. Not only does asset sharing have potential cost savings for all organizations in the network, it also reduces overall energy expenditure on manufacturing and servicing the products.

Related to some of our posts on pollinator gardening--if you are eyeing a patch of monocultural sod grass that could be replaced somewhere, I recommend The Book of Wilding: A Practical Guide to Rewilding Big and Small by Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell. I finished reading it last night and feel inspired!

If reading a book is not for you right now, there are many lectures and interviews with Isabella Tree available on YouTube and podcasts. I appreciate how she discusses making choices within a budget, and the gray areas to think about.

Share an idea to make your organization more sustainable: Reduce the use of albuterol inhalers.

In the U.S., the standard treatment for asthma is a pressurized metered-dose inhaler. However, these devices have a marked carbon footprint that is contributing to climate change. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2023/hidden-contributor-climate-change-asthma-inhalers

Cool article on refrigerators that run without electricity! They are being tested in hospitals and clinics and were created by teens. https://www.good.is/teens-invent-fridge-runs-on-salt

Great idea of rooftop solar arrays and pollinator gardens. Power the hospital by day, support local bees by night!

Today I learned about a new technology I wasn't aware about through an environmental sustainability newsletter that I receive. PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) bioplastics break down entirely in natural environments, including oceans. Within 6 weeks, it's gone—leaving behind zero microplastics and no harm. This makes it one of the most environmentally friendly materials when compared to alternatives like polylactic acid (PLA), which often requires industrial composting facilities to degrade effectively. PHAs can replace a wide range of plastic products, including:

I have been especially aware of my carbon footprint this month. The challenge will be when I am on vacation out of state over the next week when things are less in my control.