Ideas that Work: Beyond the Bin

If you went out of your way to get recycling bins into your ORs, the last thing you want is for all your green efforts to go to waste when recyclables accidentally wind up getting mistaken for non-renewable, landfill-increasing trash. This is something that can happen easily if you line your recycling bins with the same color bags as your trash receptacles. That's why we use different types of bags to distinguish between the different types of waste that gets discarded from our facility — clear plastic bags for recyclables and black trash bags for waste. For us, it's one of the small extra steps we take — which include bold, pink signs hung directly above recycling bins that remind staff exactly what items can be diverted from the waste stream — to ensure the recycling program our staff worked so hard to get off the ground continues to be as green as possible.

Jacki Blaber, RN
Greenwich Hospital
Greenwich, Conn.
[email protected]