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REVIEWS: Cathy Read Climate Change and Human Health: Risks and Responses BMJ 2004; 328: 1324 [Full text]

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Climate Change: Improving our work patterns

Nidhi D Gupta   (2 December 2006)

Climate Change: Improving our work patterns 2 December 2006
Nidhi D Gupta, SHO Whipps Cross Hospital Send response to journal: Re: Climate Change: Improving our work patterns	I read with interest the article on climate care and how we, as a profession can encourage and promote the more efficient and greener use of our resources. What I feltwas missing was how, at work, especially in hospitals, we can improve our use of our resources. From the thousands of boxes we throw away, to keeping the lights on at night when no one is using the offices and rooms and the probably hundreds of gallons of water wasted from leaking taps, as well switching off computers at the end of the day. As doctors we are in a good position to set by example not only in our personal life but also in our work life. I requested a recyclying bin in our mess for the hundreds of newspapers we use, and was refused because of worries of a fire hazard, despite the mess being full of piles of paper anyway. The waste in our hospitals is tremendous, and a few small changes would make a dramatic difference Competing interests: None declared