Hospitals try to curb astronomical emissions as pandemic brings new challenges

The healthcare climate footprint is equivalent to the greenhouse gas emissions from 514 coal-fired plants but health workers are finding ways to cut waste

Lois Wessel used to work as a labor and delivery nurse in community clinics in Maryland. She remembers that every time a baby was born, she would see a beautiful little creature - and then she'd see a whole big bag full of garbage, of sheets, supplies packaging and tubing.

Shanda Demorest, also a nurse, used to work on the cardiac unit of a hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She said when many of her patients were at the end of their lives, caring for them took an astronomical and perplexing" amount of resources.