Several prominent hospitals have joined a groundbreaking campaign expected to give children a long-term leg up by limiting their exposure to plastics and other toxic chemicals.
It's well-established that the first 1,000 days of life are developmentally crucial and have a significant impact on future health. However, as Health Care Without Harm Europe explained in a December press release, infants frequently come into contact with harmful materials during healthcare, including unnecessary plastics and other chemicals that contain endocrine disruptors associated with chronic diseases, diabetes, and cancer.
The Born Green Generation initiative aims to upend that by rallying healthcare professionals and staff, parents, universities, policymakers, and other thought leaders to commit to reducing and phasing out plastic and other toxins in healthcare settings by 2030 to safeguard future generations.
Early partners in the United Kingdom include the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children — NHS Foundation Trust and the Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals — NHS Foundation Trust.
"So far, we have made progress in switching from single-use plastic to reusable alternatives and educating staff and patients on how to avoid exposure to plastics and harmful chemicals," James Dixon, associate director for sustainability at Newcastle Hospitals, said in the release.
"It's inspiring to see how some of these early interventions can be both simple and impactful — not only in reducing plastics and chemicals in our maternity department but also in minimising the waste we generate," he added.
Even though plastic has become a material of choice in healthcare for a number of reasons, including its durability, experts estimate that more than 48 billion pounds of it will be manufactured globally for the sector by 2025, per the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Center.
To this point, most plastic waste from the sector has ended up incinerated (releasing toxins into the air) or as waste in landfills, leaching further contaminants into the earth and releasing planet-warming gases as it breaks down, contributing to the growing scourge of more intense extreme weather. There's also the fact that most plastics are derived from highly polluting dirty fuels.
To help address this, innovators in the field are pivoting to medical supplies made from plant-based bioplastics that are compostable and recyclable, creating affordable, reusable devices, and more — though there's still a long way to go to fully realize the benefits of these new developments.
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Other partners of Born Green Generation are Denmark's Center for Sustainable Hospitals — Region Midtjylland and France's Centre Hospitalier Angoulême. Switzerland's Bern University of Applied Sciences and the University of Malta are also committed to the project.
"The initial results in our departments are very promising, and we are proud to lead by example and to help make this movement a model for other Maternity/Neonatology and Paediatrics departments across Europe and, more broadly, for the entire healthcare sector," Centre Hospitalier coordinator Dominique Licaud said in the release, urging healthcare colleagues at other locations to take action to support vulnerable newborns.
"Born Green Generation is more than a movement — it's a call to action for individuals, organisations, and communities to prioritise health in everything we do. We must address the implications of exposure to plastics and toxic chemicals on human life and the resources that sustain us," added Health Care Without Harm Europe executive director Mark Wilson. "Together, we can move beyond awareness into impactful action."
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