Styrofoam is widely used for single-use consumer goods and packaging because it is lightweight, inexpensive, reliable, and durable. Styrofoam is also comprised of 95% air which makes it an incredible insulator and extremely lightweight. However, Styrofoam poses several health and environmental risks as it leeches harmful chemicals into the environment, is difficult to recycle, and emits harmful gases during manufacturing.
Along with that, Styrofoam takes 500 years to decompose and takes up an estimated 30% of landfill volume. In the span of 11 months, 12,000 refrigerated medications to patients utilizing single-use Styrofoam coolers were shipped out from the UCSF Health Specialty Pharmacy. This packaging led to added waste and patients provided feedback on whether a more environment-friendly packaging could be used. While Styrofoam is a cost effective single-use consumer good, its hidden health and environmental costs invoked UCSFH Specialty Pharmacy to look at alternative options for insulation during medication transport.
The goal was to find an alternative to Styrofoam that provided the same benefits, such as insulation and reliability while also being sustainable. The new packaging used in the pharmacy is made with recycled cotton fibers that biodegrade in 27 weeks, much quicker than 500 years! This material keeps contents at temperatures between 2 °C and 8 °C for 35 hours, thus ensuring the integrity of our refrigerated medications. It also provides patients with a more convenient recycling option leading to an increase in patient satisfaction.
This switch was introduced in 2024 and reduced our carbon footprint by 89.5 mtCO2, which is equivalent to 21.3 gasoline powered vehicles driven for one year! It also increased storage space in the pharmacy by 50%, and saved the pharmacy $48,000 a year!
The UCSF Specialty Pharmacy team submitted a poster to the UCSF Health Improvement Symposium which highlights their commitment to sustainability. By actively seeking ways to become more sustainable we can contribute to keeping our patients healthy.
The UCSF Specialty Pharmacy team takes steps towards more sustainable practices.