5 Ways to Make Your Physical Therapist Office More Eco-Friendly

EcoPro Products was built on a foundation of conservation. After all, we started producing our soft, faux leather vinyl pillow cases as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional cotton pillow cases. Since we launched, we’ve partnered with dozens of physical therapist offices across the nation to make the PT industry more environmentally conscious. For PT offices that are looking to make their clinics more earth friendly, here are a couple eco-friendly tips we’ve picked up from our customers and clients.

Tip 1: Ditch the Paper for Porcelain

Head into any PT break room and you can almost always count on being greeted with a stack of paper plates. While convenient, once used, there’s no place for these plates to go except for the garbage can. Instead of going for that Dixie plate, consider stocking your break room with traditional plates. Sure there will be a bit more dish washing, but you’ll also be putting a huge dent in your waste production. Plus, there’s something to be said for eating a quick lunch off of a real plate versus a paper plate.

Tip 2: Go Paperless (when you can)

The office workhorse, the printer, tends to be guilty of producing the most waste in a PT office. Between internal communications, patient communications and everything else in between, PT office printers are a fixed part of the office workflow – which is why offices should consider going paperless for some of their communication. Look at what your team prints out the most and look for ways to take that communication online. Emails (and even text messages) can replace traditional letters, whiteboards and announcement centers can replace employee memos, etc. Sure, not every communication can go paperless (looking at you, fax machine), but even reducing paper consumption by 50% can have a noticeable impact on the environment and on your bottom line. As an added benefit, less paper jams!

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Tip 3: Opt for Low-Flow Aerators

 

For a simple investment of $5 – $10 per faucet, low-flow aerators can reduce your office’s water consumption (and energy costs) by as much as 50%! A low-flow aerator is a small attachment that screws onto your current faucet and works by reducing the volume of water that comes through it. With the amount of hand washing that goes on in an average PT office, a low-flow aerator can pay for itself within a couple of days.

Tip 4: Lose the Tank

Tankless (also known as on-demand) water heaters are typically more expensive than the standard water heater, but tankless options have longer lifespans and lower operating costs, often shaving 15% – 30% off your water consumption costs. For larger offices, consider installing multiple on-demand water heaters across your facility to save up to 50% on your current consumption costs.

Tip 5: Skip Laundry Day

Linen washing is one of those constant evils in PT offices. Changing pillowcases after each patient produces piles of dirty laundry, which inevitably must be cleaned. Tired of wasting hours of time and gallons of water washing the same pillow cases repeatedly? Our pillowcases eliminate the need for constant washing. Simply spray, sanitize and wipe clean – that’s it!

Need more of a reason to switch? How about more money in your pocket! The average cost to keep just one treatment table outfitted with cloth pillowcases is $1,000 per year! In comparison, our EcoPro pillow covers cost just $240 per year for that same table!

While most of the tips above require a bit of investment up front, they all lead to greater savings of time and money in the long run. Go green today and add some green to your bottom line.

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Brook Phillips