3 R"s to Creating a "Greener" OR
By Joy Chau, BS, RN, CNOR

“Reduce, reuse, recycle” was the mantra for one of the educational sessions that I attended at Congress titled, “3 R’s to Creating a ‘Greener’ OR.” Most of us are very conscientious about recycling paper, glass, and plastic in our home life, yet at work, we are throwing the very items we recycle at home, into the garbage. As much as 80% of a healthcare facility’s waste is solid waste – primarily paper, glass, metals, and plastics, according to seminar presenters Melissa K. Fischer, RN, MSN, CNOR and Julie Teague, RN, CNOR. As perioperative nurses, we can be instrumental in helping our healthcare facilities become more environmentally responsible.

In reducing waste, one of the easiest ways to accomplish this is to decrease what comes into the facility in the first place. In surgery, this may mean moving towards the use of custom packs or standardization of packs and supplies. Keeping preference cards updated can also help cut down items that may no longer be needed, but have been opened and wasted. The presenters also mentioned facilities that have required vendors to supply hard containers for their instrumentation, thus lowering the use of blue wrap and the disposal of the wrap.

Reusing medical devices that are labeled “single use” has been standard practice for years, according to the Association of Medical Device Reprocessors (AMDR), which reports that its members have reprocessed 25 million devices in the past decade with no evidence of increased risk to the patient. “Reprocessing is a safe, FDA-regulated practice that allows hospitals to achieve significant cost savings while maintaining the highest standard of care,” an AMDR statement reads. Only a small percentage of the numerous devices that are used in hospitals are reprocessed. On average, reprocessed medical devices offer a 50% cost savings, as compared to purchasing a new device.

Recycling by donating medical equipment to those in need can help facilities in their goal of waste reduction. Surgery staff can also look to local moving companies to see whether blue wrap may be collected and recycled as packing material. How many times have we collected the blue wrap for ourselves or others who are packing belongings for a move? Other hospitals have a blue wrap recycling program in place.

We can all do our part in being more environmentally responsible in the operating room. The program presenters challenged all seminar attendees to return to Congress in 2009 and report to them at their future program as to what they have done to help create a greener healthcare facility.