Sustainable Medical Products: Consumer Perspectives
Posted by Tristan Sedgwick on Fri, Jan 22, 2010
What is the everyday consumer's perception of sustainability in the medical and health categories? Will there be an expectation for environmentally responsible health products alongside the rise of "green" consumer products?
We posed these questions to commuters passing by Farm's World Usability Day exhibit at South Station in Boston. What words come to mind when they think about sustainable medical products?
The word cloud above shows the variety of responses and reoccurring themes. Recyclability, reusability, safety, and disposal were the primary concepts expressed by the respondents.
The commuters we spoke with represented a range of perspectives - from those unfamiliar with sustainability as a "green" concept to those who were founding members of Boston's many "green" organizations.
The exercise prompted a few participants to think about the environmental impact of consumer health products for the first time. Some felt that the concept of a sustainable medical product was contradictory - that the challenges of safety and efficacy were too great to also be concerned about environmental impact. Others spoke about their ongoing concern about the unsustainable environmental impact of single-use medical products being disposed of on a mass scale.
Considered as a whole, this snapshot survey reflects consumer sensitivity to reducing waste (concerns about disposal and preference for re-use and recyclability). A concern for safety was expressed as well, not only for the product's immediate clinical use, but also for the product's long-term impact on human health and the environment.
This observation is supported by the growth of organizations focused on this issue, such as Practice Greenhealth and Health Care Without Harm. Industry is also responding, with medical device companies such as Baxter and Medtronic listed at the top of Newsweek's 2009 Green Rankings, taking steps toward sustainable choices in their product development processes.
Do you expect to see medical and healthcare products influenced by sustainability practices in the future?
Where do you see opportunities for sustainability in the medical and consumer health categories?