🌱 Green corner – Sustainability Top Ten

Sustainability in fertility clinic is no longer a ‘nice to have’, but it’s becoming a core part of responsible clinical practice across all areas of healthcare. The HCPC has increasingly emphasised environmental responsibility as part of professional practice. For reproductive scientists and allied health professionals , this means integrating sustainability into everyday decision‑making, without compromising patient safety or laboratory quality.

In April 2026, NHS England organised a Green AHP week, with a number of presentations from different health boards, sharing their journeys, ongoing projects and changes they’ve introduced to reduce their environmental impact. One simple but effective initiative is the ‘To Roll, or Not to Roll’ Couch project. By switching to shorter tear lengths, using perforated rolls, or adopting a “one‑pull” policy, clinics can reduce couch roll consumption by up to half. This not only cuts waste but also lowers costs and raises awareness among staff and patients.

NHS buys enough couch rolls to go 2.5 times round the world, creates 16,400 tonnes of waste (=2,700 adult African elephants) and carbon emission (3,215,210kgCO2e) is equivalent to driving 5,600,00 miles, enough CO2 to travel from Earth to the moon 23 times. Furthermore, cost of disposal is almost the same as cost of purchasing ~£15 million in total.

A similar project was also conducted and published by Canadian group (Hale I, McKenzie A. Reducing healthcare waste by eliminating exam table paper in a primary care practice: a sustainable quality improvement initiative. BMJ Open Quality 2024;13:e002838. doi:10.1136/bmjoq-2024-002838): ‘If all family physicians in Canada eliminated exam table paper in their offices, it would result in savings of approximately 95 940 km of paper, 121 680 trees, $C8 400 600 and 3054 T CO2 emissions, equivalent to driving around the world 360 times.’

The beauty of this initiative lies in its visibility: staff can see the difference immediately, and patients often appreciate the clinic’s commitment to sustainability. It’s a reminder that environmental responsibility doesn’t always require major investment—sometimes it’s about rethinking the everyday.

Another presentation focused on Greener digitisation, demonstrating that use of MSTeams communication has lower carbon footprint compared to email. Even use of ‘Thumbs up’ reaction button has lower carbon footprint (0.01-01.1gCO2) compared to a short email reply (1-4gCO2).

A greener mindset encourages teams to question long‑standing habits: Do we need this consumable? Can we reduce waste without affecting compliance? Are there digital alternatives to paper‑heavy processes? By embedding these questions into routine workflows, labs can gradually shift toward more sustainable operations while maintaining the highest clinical standards. Ultimately, sustainability in fertility clinics is about building a culture where every team member contributes.

Follow our top ten tips to get started:

1. Reduce use of gloves, aprons, couch roll and use washable theatre hats

2. Reduce single-use plastics where safe and compliant alternative exist

3. Optimise energy use – switch off: microscope lights and non-essential equipment when not in use/overnight

4. Switch off office PCs overnight, lights when rooms not use

5. Find out what can be recycled in your clinic

6. Recycle, reuse and repurpose packaging wherever possible

7. Celebrate sustainability wins – like reduced waste bags or lower energy readings, keeps teams engaged and motivated. Sustainability works best when everyone contributes and each person can make a difference.

8. Make sustainability a regular topic on your meetings agenda.

9. Make similar changes at home – reduce energy use, recycle more, cycle to work/car share, eat more plant based food.

10. Take action – every person matters and every person can make a difference.