Fighting global warming: it's time to reduce waste!

Abstract

As was underlined during the last United Nations climate change conference (Conference of the Parties, COP 24), global warming is a major concern for humanity. The goal defined during the Paris Agreement of 2015 was to keep the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. This goal might be reached by bringing greenhouse gas emissions to zero within the second half of the 21st century. Such an effort presupposes a profound change to our way of life and energetic application of transitional policies to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Of note, healthcare (mainly related to hospitals) contributes to global warming, with the total carbon footprint ranging from 3–10% of the total national carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. 1 Chung J.W. Meltzer D.O. Estimate of the carbon footprint of the US health care sector. JAMA. 2009; 302: 1970-1972 Crossref PubMed Scopus (221) Google Scholar , 2 Eckelman M.J. Sherman J. Environmental impacts of the U.S. Health Care System and effects on Public Health. PLoS One. 2016; 11e0157014 Crossref PubMed Scopus (334) Google Scholar , 3 Malik A. Lenzen M. McAlister S. McGain F. The carbon footprint of Australian health care. Lancet Planet Health. 2018; 2: e27-e35 Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (191) Google Scholar Improving the energy efficiency of buildings, reducing car use by health facilities, rationalizing the choice of inhaled anesthetics and avoiding nitrous oxide and unnecessarily high fresh gas flow rates may all contribute to reducing the greenhouse gas emissions associated with healthcare. 4 Pencheon D. Health services and climate change: what can be done?. J Health Serv Res Policy. 2009; 14: 2-4 Crossref PubMed Scopus (28) Google Scholar , 5 Pencheon D. Rissel C.E. Hadfield G. Madden D.L. Health sector leadership in mitigating climate change: experience from the UK and NSW. NSW Public Health Bull. 2009; 20: 173-176 Crossref PubMed Google Scholar , 6 Ryan S.M. Nielsen C.J. Global warming potential of inhaled anesthetics: application to clinical use. Anesth Analg. 2010; 111: 92-98 Crossref PubMed Scopus (177) Google Scholar Minimizing medical waste might also be effective in reducing the environmental impact of our activity.