The environmental impact of PPE is large and could be reduced through domestic manufacture, rationalising glove use, using reusables where possible and optimising waste management.
This charter can be used as a stand-alone resource or alongside existing organizational templates. It is a structured tool that builds on the Model for Improvement by integrating sustainability prompts into standard project charter components. It follows the SE-QI approach, which embeds sustainability within existing QI steps and structures, rather than adding it as a separate process. Prompts are woven throughout core elements such as scope, problem definition, and measurement planning. Each slide also includes accompanying speaking notes with additional guidance for each step.
Launched in fall 2023 in collaboration with the Réseau d’Action pour la Santé Durable du Québec (RASDQ), the Association québécoise des médecins pour l’environnement (AQME), Synergie Santé Environnement (SSE) and CASCADES, and with the support of the Association des médecins d’urgence du Québec (AMUQ) and Choisir avec soin, the “Les Gants, pas tout le temps” campaign aims to raise awareness among healthcare personnel of the appropriate use of gloves, as proposed by the WHO in the information sheet on glove use.
Ecovamed publishes a first comparative study on the carbon footprint of nitrile gloves depending on the production country, and the correlation with its Environmental Label of Origin
Hence, in settings with frequent use of sharp equipment, open wounds, and mucus membrane exposure, examination gloves should be required. In cases where most pathogens cannot be transmitted through intact skin, the procedure is not seen as an exposure risk, and natural defences form an adequate barrier against transmittable disease, and sanitation of the hands might be an adequate and more ethical consideration for use. We have illustrated some examples to help readers decide when removing gloves for a procedure is appropriate and when it is not.
My research’s purpose was to help fight the global COVID pandemic by helping ethanol producers produce USP grade ethanol as well as study the environmental impacts of producing USP grade ethanol.
