8 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • J U L Y 2 0 1 9
Ideas Work
P r a c t i c a l p e a r l s f r o m y o u r c o l l e a g u e s
That
W
hen I noticed patients who visited our hospital's emer-
gency department carried their personal belongings home
in single-use plastic bags, I knew there had to be a more
sustainable solution. That's when I decided to make tote bags out of
used blue wrap, mounds of which pile up in our surgical department.
Melissa Bonassisa, RDMS, supervisor of the hospital's medical imag-
ing department and a member of our hospital's green team, collects
the blue wrap and passes it along to me. I can make about a half-
dozen bags in an hour, although we're organizing a sewing club of vol-
unteers to increase production levels. (Editor's note: Build your own
bags by downloading Tami's step-by-step pictorial guide at outpa-
Turn Blue Wrap Into Blue Tote Bags
PURPOSEFUL REPURPOSE