Sustainable choices now, and for our future

In this issue, there is an interesting article on sustainability; a concept which has been enjoying a renaissance of sorts in recent years as we learn more about ways to reduce our environmental impact and ensure that future generations will not have to deal with enduring problems as a result of our carelessness.

When I first started working in practice, many years ago, there was some awareness of recycling but it was nothing like the knowledge that we have today. Back then, we would dispose of large loads of plastic syringe cases into the rubbish bins and even at home we often just sent cans, plastic, glass and organic waste directly to the landfill without any sorting or recycling. Nowadays, it is virtually unheard of to do that; we now sort our waste into recycling, we compost our organic waste and we deliberately buy products with less packaging.

Medical waste can be much more challenging to recycle. In the clinic, we often use supplies that can only be used once before they need to be disposed of. We also must not dispose of offensive medical supplies in the general rubbish, even if they are perfectly clean, such as an unused but torn sterile glove. However, there is so much more to sustainability than just recycling. We all know that we should turn off the lights when we leave a room, but how many of us cycle to work to reduce our dependence on foreign oil? How many of us plant trees or donate to renewable energy research as a way to counteract the CO₂ emissions we generate when travelling in an airplane? My guess is that very few of us do these things and if we do, we may not do it all the time.