Sebastian Pintea
B.S. Environmental Systems Engineering '26; Co-Founder of Project AWISH at Stanford Children’s Hospital; HSF Scholar
Healthcare exists to save lives; however, behind every lifesaving procedure lies an unseen cost to the planet. Every day, hospitals generate thousands of pounds of waste from sterile packaging, disposable equipment, and single-use plastics. It has been established that the healthcare sector makes up 8.5% of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States.1 During my time in the operating rooms in Southern California and now at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital (LPCH), I saw this firsthand. The sheer amount of material discarded after each case was staggering, and it became clear that if we want to care for patients holistically, we must also care for the environment that sustains their health.
That realization led Dr. Carole Lin and me to co-found Project AWISH (Addressing World Inequity through Sustainable Healthcare), a student-led initiative dedicated to reimagining what it means to deliver care responsibly. Our mission is simple but ambitious: to reduce landfill waste to decrease healthcare’s carbon footprint. Through our partnership with LPCH and the support of the Stanford Healthcare Sustainability Seed Grant, we’ve built a system that makes recycling and reprocessing possible within a clinical setting. Participants sort, quality-check, fold, and transport unused yet clean operating room supplies, items that would otherwise end up in landfills, to our partnered hospitals and clinics through nonprofit donation programs such as ReSurge. By diverting materials like blue wrap, we’re reducing the environmental impact of surgical care.
Our team’s impact continues to grow:
● 3,541 pounds of blue wrap recycled since the program began — averaging over 500 pounds each month.
● 1,250 volunteer hours contributed to date, translating to roughly $50,000 in professional services donated.
● $43,250 earned through LigaSure reprocessing rebates and pediatric anesthesia grants.
AWISH is also a platform for education and empowerment. Our volunteers gain hands-on experience with ultrasound technology: an eco-friendly, non-invasive, and energy-efficient diagnostic tool. Each cohort of volunteers learns ultrasound basics and then teaches the next group, creating a cycle of mentorship and sustainability. Looking ahead, we’re expanding into the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) to pilot new sterilization and reprocessing protocols and develop online opportunities for students across the country to participate remotely in research and data analysis. By analyzing hospital waste data, contributing to publications, or leading social media outreach, volunteers can join AWISH’s mission from anywhere in the world.
Ultimately, Project AWISH is proof that environmental responsibility and clinical excellence are not opposing goals; they are the same. Every recycled wrap, every repurposed tool, and every hour volunteered is a reminder that healing patients and healing the planet go hand in hand. Prior systematic reviews have summarized evidence on the environmental impact of surgery and specifically note that practices such as using anesthetic gases with lower global warming potential, replacing disposable materials with reusable equivalents, and recycling properly can reduce operating room emissions and waste without compromising patient safety.2
Together, we can build a healthcare system that is not just effective, but ethical, equitable, and sustainable.
- Dzau VJ, Levine R, Barrett G, Witty A. Decarbonizing the U.S. Health Sector - A Call to Action. N Engl J Med. 2021 Dec 2;385(23):2117-2119. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp2115675.
- Shoham MA, Baker NM, Peterson ME, Fox P. The environmental impact of surgery: A systematic review. Surgery. 2022 Sep;172(3):897-905. doi: 10.1016/j.surg.2022.04.010. Epub 2022 Jul 2. PMID: 35788282.
If you're interested in volunteering or want to learn more, contact Sebastian Pintea, spintea@stanford.edu, or Dr. Carole Lin, clin999@stanford.edu.
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