CLIMATE CHANGE & HEALTH
Waste, Heat, and Climate Change: More Than the Eye Can See SAEM PULSE | JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2022
By Michael Hii and Caitlen Rublee, MD, on behalf of the SAEM Climate Change and Health Interest Group
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As clinicians, when we think about waste, it’s easy to picture an overflowing garbage bin filled with gloves, plastic tubing, food waste, disposable gowns, and other supplies. Throughout the day and night, carts roll down hospital halls cleaning up trash. Environmental services teams remove and replace bins with empty ones that again become full. These activities occur daily without many of us even thinking about them.
of eye drops used as local anesthetic. Producing the plastic bottle requires harvesting oil to produce the plastics and other materials, then transporting them across the country (or further) in order for a clinician to use a single drop (or two) before disposing of the bottle and the remaining solution. While this practice may allow for a painless exam for the patient, it is not a painless process for our shared environment.
It is much more difficult to picture the entire carbon intensive process involved in the materials used to provide health care services before they end up as trash. For instance, take just one bottle
Waste in the Emergency Department
The emergency department certainly is no stranger to waste. One academic
emergency department found that its waste exceeded four pounds per patient encounter. Other scholars have detailed an extensive list of opportunities for emergency departments to commit to to reduce emissions. Here in the United States (U.S.), there is a culture that contributes to a sense of security and improved quality of care in using new, single use, disposable items in a health care setting. The intention to ensure top quality care for our patients is admirable; however, there may be an alternative approach. Once again, we can learn from our colleagues in ophthalmology. A hospital
