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Nurses at Greenwich Hospital crafted handbags, garment bags and other items from non-woven polypropylene textiles used to wrap sterile instrument trays.

Nurses at Greenwich Hospital crafted handbags, garment bags and other items from non-woven polypropylene textiles used to wrap sterile instrument trays. Artist Tanya Wolski painted the pieces with their unique designs.

Nurses at Greenwich Hospital crafted handbags, garment bags and other items from non-woven polypropylene textiles used to wrap sterile instrument trays. Artist Tanya Wolski painted the pieces with their unique designs.

Nurses at Greenwich Hospital crafted handbags, garment bags and other items from non-woven polypropylene textiles used to wrap sterile instrument trays. Artist Tanya Wolski painted the pieces with their unique designs.

Six nurses have been recycling tossed material from the operating room and turning it into fashion.

The operating room nurses at Greenwich Hospital use non-woven polypropylene textiles used to ship surgical instruments to design dresses, skirts, hats, purses and other fashion items.

“The purpose of the project is to raise the awareness of recycling the hospital’s waste and turn it into practical and useful things,” said project leader Wen-Ting Reardon.

According to Reardon, the non-woven poly material is thick, clean and safe to reuse since it is used to wrap sterile instrument trays. To reduce waste, not only in the operating room but for the hospital, nurses Traci Valencia, Maria Lodebole, Christal Rodenhiser, Rhona Virtudes, Tanya Wolski and Reardon came together to work on repurposing used materials. 

Since the material comes in a limited number of colors, Reardon has to paint it to make the garments. She has also collaborated with friend and artist Tanya Wolski to help create designs for the pieces. "You have to make the material interesting since it does not come in different colors, so I spray or hand paint," she said.

"During the height of the pandemic, we started off making masks and other PPE supplies like shoe covers since supplies were low," said Lodebole. "Wen-Ting loves to sew and her passion is design."

According to Reardon, the operating room contributes a large amount of medical waste. "The OR generates a good amount of material like plastics, cardboard, paper and the woven poly wrap for the instrument trays that we use," she said.

Noticing how much material from the OR goes to waste, the nurses have brought up the idea of doing a fashion show to introduce the material to show off their creations.  "Unless you are in the OR, no one really knows about this material," she said.

TThe nurses proposed the idea of the fashion show to the hospital leadership and Reardon said they like the idea; the nurses are waiting on permission to go ahead with the idea. 

“I have seen employees of hospitals across the country recycling the non-woven polypropylene instrument wraps for years — making sleeping bags for homeless people, giving to animal shelters, using them as table covers for parties and more,” she said.

Reardon hopes people see the potential with the material and wonders what more can be done with it.

“We are a group of nurses without fashion or designing background. Imagine people from the fashion industry, what they would do with this ‘wrapping paper?’" she said.