Sustainability Case Study: Cara Sandler
I am coming towards the end of my first year of specialty registrar training in orthodontics, for which my post is split between the Royal London Hospital and Southend University Hospital. When I saw the call for applications to the Corporate Sustainable Responsibility group for the BOS, I knew that it was something I would like to contribute to. Environmental sustainability places highly in my list of priorities in life. I have self-diagnosed myself with “eco-anxiety” (definition: the chronic fear of environmental doom) and in an effort to manage this, I have made changes to my life that helps me to sleep at night (literally!) I became vegetarian four years ago, I cycle or take public transport wherever I can and I try to avoid flying if possible. I don’t expect others to go to the same efforts to make sustainable life choices, however, I am always pleased to hear if friends have decided to reduce the amount of meat they eat or carry refillable water bottles. I think small changes can have a big impact!
Split between two sites for training, I see different approaches to sustainability in each unit. Working in the Royal London orthodontic department, we have recently bought three intra-oral scanners which means we have reduced the number of plastic trays and alginate impressions used. When I am in Southend, we have reusable metal trays for impressions and are lucky to have a lab on-site which negates any travel to/from the lab which causes a significant increase the carbon emissions associated with treatment. QR codes are available in both units to direct patients towards information leaflets, rather than always relying on printed copies, although we do tend to offer information in a printed format.
Alongside training, I have started a research project and after following the sage advice to “research something you are interested in”, I combined two of my biggest interests: orthodontics and sustainability. Perhaps naively, I have been surprised to read about how unsustainable healthcare is, but I am encouraged to learn of all the different ways in which we can work to reduce our environmental impact.
For those coming to the conference in September, I hope to meet and question as many of you as possible about your thoughts regarding the printed media that you receive from the BOS. There are a number of publications (Journal of Clinical Orthodontics, Clinical Effectiveness Bulletin, BOS news & Orthodontic Update) that are sent out to members in printed format. I can only speak for myself but when I receive them through the post, the journals are read once and then usually hang around in a pile until they are eventually cleared away or binned. I recently learned that CO2 emissions are typically 86% lower for digital PDFs than printed magazines (2022 Readly Climate Study) and so in an effort to be more environmentally sustainable as a corporation, the CSR group would like to know whether the members are happy to move to online publications. Please come and say hello at the conference and let me know your thoughts on environmental sustainability.
Top tips for sustainability:
- Check out the Green Impact for Health Toolkit. It contains practical solutions for how your practice can become more sustainable and in turn, it will help you to save money! https://toolkit.sos-uk.org/greenimpact/giforhealth/login
- Embrace change! Make small changes to your daily habits: carry a reusable shopping bag with you, keep a water bottle or (more importantly) a reusable coffee cup, take the stairs rather than getting in a lift!
- Get on your bike! Travel is the single biggest contributing factor towards dental-related carbon emissions, could you change your commute to take public transport, walk or cycle to work, once or twice a week?
