Dr Teo Li-Ming, Academic Vice Chair, Clinical Quality and Services, talks about how we can do our part in our personal and professional lives, to contribute towards environmental sustainability. In this issue of the newsletter, we will also showcase some of the green initiatives at SKH Anaesthesiology.
Every day, there is no shortage in the media about calamities and suffering that could be linked to climate change. In Singapore, we have been fortunate to not have to bear the direct brunt of severe flooding, scorching heatwaves, forest fires and droughts. However, the days and nights have been feeling a lot warmer and humid and it almost always pours now when the skies open. Even without COVID-19, food security would have been a concern as food production is highly dependent on weather patterns.
As a nation, Singapore has been moving towards environmental sustainability. Individually, in our personal and professional lives, we can do our part as well. Reduce, Re-use or Recycle. The latter 2 Rs can be challenging in our profession as we need to maintain strict hygiene and infection
control. We can still give a thought whether it is necessary to repeat that investigation, consider whether medication can be given orally rather than intravenously or whether we need to paste that Tegaderm over the ECG lead. Something as routine as planning the placement of the ECG sticker such that it is not in the surgeon’s sterile field can reduce the usage and wastage of ECG stickers.
In our personal lives, it helps to differentiate what is truly a necessity versus a want. Before we next purchase something, we should ask ourselves whether we really need it. I find that planning is also necessary when I am trying to reduce my use of plastic bags/disposable wares. I have to think about what I am going to or might potentially buy, and bring along the prerequisite plastic bags and containers. And a few more, in case I give in to a whim or see a bargain I cannot resist. After a while, each of us can come up with a system suited to our routines that reduces our carbon foot print.
Sometimes we wonder whether what we are doing can make a difference. I always remind myself of the saying - tiny drops of water, tiny grains of sand, make a mighty ocean and a pleasant land. Collectively, our national Anaesthesiology community’s efforts and our own individual efforts will slowly but surely make the world we live in a better one.
At the ACP level, we are doing our part to reduce our carbon footprint, you can now choose if you would like to opt out from any door gifts for our events. We have also set up a sustainability workgroup and are in the midst of planning a sustainability-themed event in October 2022. Stay tuned for more details!
