It ain't easy bein' green in the HIM realm. With departments already moving to paperless, patient privacy to think about and, in many cases, only a few people in the whole department, HIM professionals already run pretty lean and green. Ways do exist to make your department more environmentally friendly, and while the obvious ones, like trying to cut back on paper, come up, so do more obscure tips (check out tip three!).

Lights Out!    
Kathy Petty, CMT, transcription supervisor with Northwest Radiology Network, P.C., Indianapolis, gets a bit of ribbing at work. "I go around turning lights off all the time because there's a supply closet right outside my office," Petty explained. "Almost every time I walk by, the light's on and there's no one in there, and so I'm turning it off."

Petty's co-workers tease her about her switch flipping, likening her to the hostile soup server on "Seinfeld," but it's better for the environment if the lights are out if no one's using a room. Petty encouraged using natural light if you have the option, and she often works with her overhead light out if it's a nice day outside. To boot, it saves money on office electric bills. "We're hoping to save a little expense in that area," Petty noted.

Donate Your Goods
The American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC) receives countless binders filled with survey documents each year from cancer programs. The CoC's always looking for ways to go green (read about new CoC survey initiatives here) and after the papers inside are recycled or shredded, employees use up the binders if they can, but oftentimes, they pile up. "They're just empty binders, and we only need so many," said Lisa Landvogt, administrator, CoC, accreditation and standards.

Instead of tossing the excess in the trash, the CoC donates the binders to a local school drive. Schools get much-needed supplies, and the CoC reduces the clutter from the binders. "We've always tried to put our heads together as a team here and figure out the best way to dispose of something or use something that comes in," Landvogt explained.

Shake, Shake, Shake
When Petty first started with Northwest Radiology Network, she noticed that the three-MT department tore through print cartridges. The company recycles its print cartridges, but Petty felt it was still a waste to be going through them so fast. "One day I went to change one, and I thought, well, this isn't empty," Petty recalled. "So I shook it, and if I just shake it, I get about an extra 3 months out of it."

Flip to Side Two
If you're using only half of the paper, you're wasting it. There's a whole other side there, and by simply flipping the paper over and reusing it, you can save money and trees. Of course, papers with personal health information can't be reused in this manner, but other papers can. At the CoC, employees keep a pile of reusable papers already printed on one side next to the printer, and encourage others to put these in the print tray if the page they're printing isn't anything that's going to be sent out. When both sides are used, send the papers to the recycling bin rather than the trash, if your office recycles.

Ditch the Fax Machine
It's a common joke in the medical industry that without health care folks keeping them going, fax machines would've been long ago relegated to the same technology wasteland occupied by the telegraph and the 8-track player. Kick that paper wasting dinosaur to the curb.

Petty's company uses eFax, an Internet fax service, to send and receive faxes. You can see a list of other Internet fax companies and compare them at this Web site. "All of our faxes come through our e-mail," Petty said, "and very rarely do we even have to print any of those out."

Keep on Top of It
At the CoC, everyone keeps a box of things to recycle under their desk. The only things that go in the trash are items that can't be recycled, and keeping the recycling boxes close makes it easy to be environmentally friendly. "Most of the time, our boxes under our desks weigh more than the garbage can," Landvogt noted.

If your department recycles, keep the bins convenient. If in a rush it's easier to toss things in the trash, people might be tempted. But if the greener choice is close and convenient, employees are more likely to participate.

Keep Your Gerbil Happy
If you do your paper shredding on the premises, those shreds make an ideal bottom filler for the cages of small pets. Kate Collins, an MT with Eyecare Medical Group, Portland, ME, wrote that her co-workers use the shredded paper either for small animal cages or for garden mulch. Used coffee grounds are sometimes recycled for garden mulch by people in her office, as well, Collins noted.

Show Off Your Ugly Mug
At the CoC, this week is Earth Week, and each day, the Commission is encouraging greener decisions. One of the initiatives is to get workers to ditch plastic or Styrofoam coffee cups in favor of their own beloved mugs. On Friday, the office will have an Ugly Mug Day, according to Landvogt, where everyone's encouraged to bring in the ugliest mug they can find. It makes being environmentally friendly fun, and will save a few cups from being landfill-bound, too.

Other Ideas
We heard other ideas, like using a timed heating and cooling system to save on energy, using scrap paper around the department or office and using local vendors. If you have any ideas or would like to share what you do in your office or HIM department, leave a comment below. Happy Earth Day!

Lynn Jusinski is an associate editor with ADVANCE.