A Little Recycling Incident at the Hospital

The nurse was pushing a wheelchair with a garbage bin full of cardboard on it. As she passed the seating area where I was waiting and reading a book, she asked another nurse "What do you do with your recycling?" As she saw hesitation in the other's face, she quickly clarified "Do you recycle?"

The other laughed and said "We gave up - we didn't know what to do with it, so we just throw it out now."

A third nurse who was passing by volunteered, "We've been putting it in the garbage room in a big clear plastic bag."

"Does it get recycled?" asked the first.

"I'm not sure, but since the bag is clear, we figured they could see what was in it so they wouldn't just throw it out."

The three spent a few more minutes speaking, hoping that it would get recycled and wishing for a better system, then the first nurse found a clear bag, put the cardboard in it, and left it, pushing the now-empty garbage bin on the wheelchair back to her ward. I don't think anyone will ever know if this particular cardboard actually ended up recycled or tossed, but it was well-intentioned.

People try to do what's right. Sometimes they give up when it seems futile, when there's no system, when it doesn't seem worth the effort any more. Sometimes they pesist, continuing to try and ask around, working with others to try to find a solution. And sometimes they innovate and just start doing something, anything, in an attempt to solve the problem with hopes that it will be successful.

It may seem obvious, but management needs to foster these messy little initiatives - creating an environment and providing support for people to make their own jobs better and better, day by day.