BOS Sustainability Group
I have been an Associate Specialist in Orthodontics at Dundee Dental Hospital and Research School for 18 years. I have always tried to recycle as much as possible at home and am lucky to be able to cycle to work. However, like many of my colleagues I have become increasingly aware over the years of just how much energy and resources go into healthcare and how unsustainable this is. So, I was happy to get more involved in sustainability at work and a year ago I took on the role of Sustainability Champion for the Dental Hospital along with fellow orthodontist Elinor Chalmers.
Working in a draughty building surrounded by single use plastic, the task of trying to get the Dental Hospital to net zero seemed a huge job. We decided that we needed to find out more about sustainability and attended informative courses with NHS Education for Scotland and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare.
We agreed to start with easy targets, and our first aim was to improve our recycling in non-clinical areas with more recycling bins and better signage. We joined a scheme through Terracycle to collect toothbrushes for recycling and collected crisp packets for a charity that makes blankets for the homeless. Staff and patient travel has a significant impact on the carbon footprint of dentistry, so we have set up a group with Liftshare for the Dental Hospital. We have also been working with the University to improve facilities for cycling and electric vehicles.
Our next aim is to look at clinical practice, and projects underway include reducing wastage of nitrous oxide (a very potent greenhouse gas), cutting down on single use items and producing a poster similar to the Green Theatre Checklist to help staff decrease the environmental impact of their work.
In the Orthodontic Department we have found the QR codes produced for the BOS patient information leaflets an excellent way to reduce our paper usage. We have moved over to digital study models (eliminating both raw materials for physical models and the space required to store them) and are starting to use telephone clinics for retainer checks to reduce our patient travel.
I am looking forward to being part of the BOS CSR group. I’m excited to see what we can achieve to make Orthodontics more sustainable.
3 tips for sustainability
- We all have busy working lives. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the challenge and not do anything. Start with something achievable and take it from there.
- Talk about sustainability. It’s amazing how many of your colleagues have great ideas for projects or are keen to learn more.
- There is a huge amount of information out there to help you. Below are some of the websites we have used.
Useful websites
