Call the staff at Vanderbilt’s Green Hills Clinic trashy, and they’ll take it as a compliment. That’s because many staff members have become intensely dedicated to recycling and
very interested in the waste they throw away every day.
“Recycling is not just about protecting the environment, it’s about preserving the earth for future generations as well. Our children and
grandchildren are the ones who will suffer the most if we do not take action
today,” said Kristen Henry, L.P.N.
The recycling efforts at Green Hills Clinic are led by
Henry, Anne Brogdon, L.P.N., Jane Case, F.N.P., and Debbie Snedegar, F.N.P.
Case, the self-described hippie in the group, said she has always recycled at
home, but the idea for recycling at the clinic was planted when she noticed how
many soda cans were being thrown away. The clinic started with bins in the
break room, and efforts turned serious last spring. Now they have recycling
stations in Case and Snedegar’s offices and the break room.
They recycle clinical waste, like plastic syringe packaging, flyers from drug
reps, empty medicine boxes, and paper without patient information. Lunch breaks
also produce a lot of recyclable waste, like plastic silverware and bottles,
soup and soda cans and cardboard boxes from microwave meals.
According to Henry, the clinic recycled 134 pounds of waste in the month between
Aug. 26 and Sept. 26. “And that’s just one small clinic,” she noted.
The clinic has made special efforts to control their styrofoam waste, a
substance that takes many years to decompose. They return styrofoam boxes to
the pharmacy to be reused, and they switched to cardboard coffee cups, which
caused a lot of dissent in the office.
