keep the outdoor recycling units from becoming overfull, which pre-
vents staff from throwing recyclable waste out with the regular, non-
recyclable waste.
A path to follow
Nearly 6 months into the program, Ms. Tharp estimates 2 campuses
generate a total of 400 pounds of clean waste each week, meaning
about 10,000 pounds of waste that would have gone to the landfill has
been recycled since the program's start.
"When it comes to being a good steward of the environment, even
making small changes for the sake of doing what's right is going to
have an impact," she adds. "We don't need to make some big, monu-
mental change that's going to alter the course of modern history."
The program has spawned a byproduct: battery recycling, with
special bins on site to collect used batteries pitched from the likes
of pagers and pulse irrigators.
Although Deaconess Hospital had no shining example to emulate as
it was piecing the program together, it has since given others a path to
follow. The hospital's cath labs are now looking into how they can par-
ticipate in the program. Also, a women's hospital within the Deaconess
network contacted Ms. Tharp recently, inquiring about crafting a recy-
cling program of its own.
OSM
— Bill Donahue
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 • O U T PA T I E N TS U R G E R Y. N E T • 8 1
blue wrap to cover the floor beneath the surgical site, which pre-
vents povidone-iodine from slicking the OR floor. This, in turn,
lightens the load for environmental-services staffers during room
turnovers. The surgery center also donates blue wrap to a local
animal shelter where one of its OR techs volunteers.
— Bill Donahue