The Blue Marble *Copyright NASA

Lynn D Carlisle DDS

The Earth needs your help. 2010 is the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day. This is a great time to review and renew your efforts to Go Green in your dental office and home.

Many scientists forecast that the earth is reaching an *environmental tipping point. 2010 and succeeding years are seen as critical for the environment.

Become proactive environmentally by being a green dental office. Your patients and community will be impressed by your concern for the environment and them. (74% of the British population say that more information on a company's social and ethical behaviour would influence their purchasing decisions. MORI, CSR study 2003)

What can you do in your dental office and home to be green for 2010?

What can you do in your dental office and home to be green for 2010?

Here are ten tips from the Sierra Club on going green in your dental office in 2010. Also included are tips on how to reduce your home and office toxic wastes and carbon footprint:

The Green Life in an office environment - 10 tips.

* Learn about EcoTipping Points | The EcoTipping Points Project

Carbon Footprint - Business

Carbon Footprint Calculator - What's My Carbon Footprint ?

Nature Activities - Green Living Tips & Eco Ideas for the Everyday Environmentalist

And A-Z topics on recycling dental amalgam, silver and lead waste in your dental office from the ADA: http://www.ada.org/sections/professionalResources/pdfs/topics_amalgamwaste_managing.pdf

http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/full/134/8/1095

Many cities are requiring dental offices to monitor amalgam, lead and x-ray solution waste. For instance, the City of Ft Collins, Colorado instigated a rigorous program for monitoring the amount of silver in it's wastewater. Monitoring dental office waste was a significant feature of this program.

Other things you can do:

Digital radiography eliminates using x-ray chemicals and lead foil.

Use alcohol hand rubs to reduce soap, water and paper towel usage.

Pay attention to the chemicals used in sterilizers and suction line cleaners.

Use oil-free, dry air and vacuums.

Go "paperless" by using paperless practice management software systems.

Ask your dental supply rep for information and help on going green in your dental office. If he or she does not have the information, ask them to start a green program in their company.

If you are building a new office or remodeling, consider the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED program: USGBC: LEED Rating Systems

Let your patients know what you are doing to become "green" in your:

dental practice newsletter

one to one conversations

web site

other office communications

You might even send out a press release about what you are doing to "go green". How to use press releases to market your relationship-based dental practice.

Here are some more links to help your efforts:

Earth Day 2010 // The Nature Conservancy

THE OFFICIAL EARTH DAY 2010 CAMPAIGN - April 22, 2010 | Earth Day Network

Nature Activities - Everyday Environmentalist: Green Your Office

A You Tube video that reminds us of the beauty of our earth:

A You Tube video that reminds us of the beauty of our earth:

YouTube - Earth Day 2010

Portions of this article appeared in an earlier ISOC article on "Going Green in your dental office".

Read what Bill Brown, DDS (a ISOC advisory board member) is doing to restore his Iowa farmland to its pre-settlement oak savanna state: The Nature Conservancy in Iowa - Rare Woodland Conserved Through Easement in Decatur County

Bill Brown, DDS

Need more information and hope?

Need more info and hope? Read Amazon.com: The Necessary Revolution: Working Together to Create a Sustainable World (9780385519045): Peter M. Senge, Bryan Smith, Nina Kruschwitz, Joe Laur, Sara Schley: Books

and Amazon.com: Hot, Flat, and Crowded 2.0: Why We Need a Green Revolution--and How It Can Renew America (9780312428921): Thomas L. Friedman: Books

* "The Blue Marble" Credit NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Image by Reto Stöckli (land surface, shallow water, clouds). Enhancements by Robert Simmon (ocean color, compositing, 3D globes, animation). Data and technical support: MODIS Land Group; MODIS Science Data Support Team; MODIS Atmosphere Group; MODIS Ocean Group Additional data: USGS EROS Data Center (topography); USGS Terrestrial Remote Sensing Flagstaff Field Center (Antarctica); Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (city lights).