Clinicians play an important role in reducing environmental impact from clinical laboratory activity. The production, transportation and disposal of laboratory products have an environmental impact which includes, but is not limited to: tourniquets, needles, tubes, labels, and plastic specimen collection bags. Within the laboratory, additional waste is generated from the specimens, reagents and materials used for testing. The large amounts of energy and water consumed to generate results has a significant carbon footprint as well. Moreover, spurious results frequently lead to unnecessary medical follow-up or misguided therapy with further waste of resources and extension of the carbon footprint. Reducing blood work frequency (as appropriate), reflecting on appropriateness of laboratory orders (Using Labs Wisely) and rethinking laboratory orders (checking previous results instead of reordering, limiting duplication) are potential strategies to reduce environmental impact.
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