Ideas That Work: Make Recycling Easy and Accessible

Practical pearls from your colleagues

Want a simple way to make sure your staff recycles more? Make sure cans are easily accessible and visible. Knoxville (Tenn.) Orthopaedic Surgery Center utilizes recycling trash cans in its staff lounges, which allows the facility to participate in the local county’s recycling waste program. “We recycle at least two dumpsters of cardboard a week,” says Beth Russell, MSN, RN, CASC, the facility’s executive director. “We have seven large recycling containers outside the back door that are emptied weekly and one in our staff lounge,” she says. The waste management company services the surgery center twice a week and diverts the recycling from the landfill, saving the facility $150 to $200 a month on average. “We have been recycling for most of our existence and as our case volume has increased, so have our recycling efforts,” says Ms. Russell.  OSM