Senior Corps: Coulee Region RSVP (Retired and Senior Volunteer Program)
Environmental Stewardship Blue Wrap Program
Coulee Region RSVP located in La Crosse, WI is currently collaborating with Gundersen Health
System’s Environmental Stewardship Program, Envision in order to reduce medical waste by
reimaging used surgical wrap, a #5 plastic product, into items needed for patient care by many
departments throughout the hospital. Everyday, a material known as blue wrap is used at
Gundersen Lutheran’s facilities to wrap up surgical instrument trays for the operating rooms.
Following the sterilization of the trays, they are unwrapped and the blue wrap is thrown away.
This discarded material is responsible for 19% of the waste generated from surgical services
nation-wide. Historically, Gundersen has seen twenty-two thousand pounds of blue wrap
material sent to landfill each year. As Gundersen’s cleanest waste stream, each sheet of blue
wrap can only be used once before it is discarded. The Great River’s United Way 2012 Compass
Now Community Health Assessment recognizes the hazards of unlimited landfill usage stating,
“The amount of waste a community produces can have a huge impact on the natural environment
and the quality of life in a region.” La Crosse County’s landfill receives more waste than any
other county in the region, due to the population size of the area and the industries located within
the county. The Wisconsin DNR estimates that the La Crosse County landfill has 24 years of
useful life remaining, therefore making landfill waste an inefficient use of resources and an
unsustainable option for our area. RSVP’s innovative new blue wrap program provides much
needed items to Gundersen while making a serious impact on the sustainability initiatives of our
community and local environment. Surgical wrap that once would have made its way to the
landfill is now being reused as aprons by adult and pediatric oncology patients as they participate
in healing arts activities, bedrail bags used by patients during long-term stays, tote bags for
educational materials, wheelchair/walker bags for rehab and therapy patients, personal item
caddies, and breast cancer patient care bags. Since the inception of the program in August of
2011, 20 volunteers have saved more than 500 pounds of material from going into the local
landfill by creating 650 items currently being used at Gundersen. This is a one of a kind
collaborative program and the first within the nation attempting to reimage and redistribute blue
wrap back into its host facility in order to decrease waste, enhance patient care, and reduce
financial costs to the facility. This program is a win-win for Gundersen and Coulee Region
RSVP; it keeps materials out of the waste stream by finding a new use for them, engages more
volunteers in senior corps programming focusing on environmental stewardship in our
community, and meets a number of needs for Gundersen, while overall reducing our carbon
footprint on the environment. Coulee Region RSVP is proud to be part of a groundbreaking
initiative that is resulting in responsible outcomes not only for patients and for staff at our
partnering site but for our entire community and local environment.