Building a More Sustainable Emergency Department

Across the University of Michigan Department of Emergency Medicine, sustainability has become an increasingly important part of delivering care. Through efforts to reduce waste, expand recycling, and prepare communities for climate-related health risks, the department’s Green Team is working to make sustainability part of everyday practice.

Launched in summer 2022, the Green Team brings together faculty, trainees, nurses, and staff from across adult and pediatric emergency services to improve sustainability across the department.

“We have a multidisciplinary team from all different job families that oversees adult and children’s sustainability efforts,” said Mallory Davis, MD, MPH, Assistant Program Director of the Emergency Medicine Residency Program and Clinical Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine.

Davis founded the Green Team, which first focused on small changes they could make without disrupting patient care

 “We have worked on easy things that can make a big difference,” Davis said. Like having more single-use items available by the recess bay so that people aren’t opening up large kits of things.”

By reorganizing supply access and encouraging mindful use of materials, the team has helped decrease the number of partially used kits. In addition, the department created a donation program for unused medical supplies.

“We’ve been donating items that are open that can’t be restocked to the Humane Society,” Davis said.

The Green Team’s efforts have now expanded with the rollout of recycling in Children’s Emergency Services.

“Our big project is medical plastics recycling in the children’s ED,” Davis said. “A lot of different types of plastic items that we typically were throwing in the landfill are now gonna be, able to be recycled.”

Plastics account for around one-quarter of waste generated by U.S. healthcare facilities. More than 90 percent is not recycled, even though most of it is suitable for recycling. Healthcare contributes an estimated 8.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.

Since launching its medical plastics recycling program, Michigan Medicine has diverted more than 53,000 pounds of waste from landfills, reducing carbon emissions by the equivalent of 25.06 metric tons of CO₂. This reduction is comparable to avoiding the burning of nearly 28,000 pounds of coal or powering more than two million smartphone charges.

For the department, these outcomes show the impact of small changes made by hundreds of clinicians and staff.

“It gives me hope that by the small efforts that we’re taking in the Emergency Department, and to protect our patients, it can make a big difference in the long run,” Davis said. “For our planet, and our environment, and all of our patients.”

In addition to waste reduction, the Green Team is involved in research and community initiatives related to climate and health. Current projects examine how the environment, such as poor air quality, affect emergency department utilization and patient outcomes.

“This project specifically focuses on high PM2.5 days, so poor air quality days,” Davis said.

The goal is to help emergency departments prepare for climate-related health risks and equip patients with tools to manage them.

“We’re just trying to prepare the patients, more for these things,” she said.

For Green Team members, sustainability is tied to the department’s mission to improve patient care.

“This should matter because it is greatly impacting our patients’ health, and it’s only going to get worse,” Davis said. “Efforts that people can make to help educate their patients, or to help decrease our waste and be more sustainable is really helping everyone.”

She emphasized that progress depends on participation across the department.

“Ways that people can get involved is just participating in our efforts,” Davis said. “Being mindful about how many gloves you’re using, recycling cans, can all actually make a big impact if everyone chips in.”

Looking ahead, the Green Team is exploring more initiatives, including expanding plastics recycling to Adult Emergency Services and transitioning more discharge materials to electronic formats. These efforts align with Michigan Medicine’s priorities to reduce environmental impact while maintaining clinical excellence.

“We know healthcare as a sector is such a large emitter of greenhouse gases and waste,” Davis said. “So I think trying to do your own part to decrease your waste and your use of items will make the healthcare sector maybe a little bit less wasteful in the big scheme of things.”

Through teamwork, the Department of Emergency Medicine’s Green Team is showing how sustainability can be integrated into clinical care—improving outcomes for patients today while protecting the health of future generations.