All Resources

Bring your own reusable bag -NYGH
This video introduces the Bring Your Own Reusable Bag Initiative at North York General Hospital
Video

Reusables First: Prioritizing reusables in Canadian healthcare settings
This webinar explains the “reusables first” approach to sustainable procurement, which prioritizes reusable products and devices over single-use disposables whenever clinically safe to do so. It highlights how healthcare procurement can help reduce the sector’s environmental impact by decarbonizing supply chains and adopting more sustainable practices to support planetary health and climate mitigation. The session features healthcare professionals from British Columbia and Ontario who share their experience implementing reusable-first strategies in clinical settings and discuss practical opportunities for broader adoption across the health system.
Webinar

Reusables in Quebec healthcare: Between research and action
This webinar explores the growing movement in Quebec to adopt reusable products and devices as a strategy for advancing sustainability in health care. It explains how shifting from single-use disposable products to reusable alternatives can reduce resource extraction, waste, and pollution while improving supply chain resilience and potentially lowering long-term costs. The discussion features Quebec-based researchers and healthcare professionals sharing insights on the environmental and financial differences between reusable and single-use products, as well as barriers, facilitators, and real-world experiences implementing this transition in health care facilities.
Webinar

Collaborating with IPAC to advance sustainability and reusables
This webinar focuses on infection prevention and control (IPAC) strategies related to reusable medical devices and equipment as part of the “reusable first” webinar series. Experts discuss how proper cleaning, disinfection, and sterilization are essential to maintaining patient safety while reducing environmental waste. The session emphasizes the importance of clear protocols, staff training, and collaboration between infection control and sustainability teams to support safe reuse practices in health care settings.
Webinar

Lessons Learned from Unsuccessful Projects
This webinar, the fourth presentation in the “Reusables First” series, explores lessons learned from unsuccessful attempts to implement reusable products in healthcare settings. It highlights challenges such as increased workload, logistical complexity, and difficulty meeting staff needs. Speakers present case studies including reusable metal spoons, zero-waste yogurt containers, and reusable surgical textiles. Across organizations, common barriers included delays, loss of momentum, inconsistent stakeholder buy-in, and the lack of early cost analysis. The session emphasizes that sharing failures is important for helping other sustainability leaders avoid similar pitfalls and improve future implementation of reusable healthcare practices.
Webinar

Increasing reprocessing capacity with Jen Fraser, Island Health
This video provides an overview on the reusable level 2 isolation gowns program developed at Island Health in BC.
Video


Sample HIPO List
An example chart with High-Impact Procurement Opportunity list for medical devices.
Chart

Key Actors for Achieving Sustainable Food Systems
CASCADES
The following table provides a general list of groups that need to be involved for the successful planning, design or delivery of food infrastructure for planetary health projects; it is offered as a working draft or a guide for you and your teams to upgrade together.
Worksheet

Recipes for Change: Food Infrastructures for Planetary Health
This webinar explored how healthy food and food systems contributed to improvements in patient, public, and ecosystem health. It discussed aligning planning, design, and delivery of food infrastructures with planetary health values. The authors of the Food Infrastructures for Planetary Health playbook presented ways to integrate planetary health into decision-making, including opportunities across the facilities delivery lifecycle and approaches to driving system change. Speakers from across Canada shared efforts to transform health system food environments. The event was presented by CASCADES in partnership with Nourish and Green Care.
Webinar