We love to create a stink about eco-friendly projects. Vet teams are being encouraged to come up with innovative solutions to sustainability in practice. A vet from Canada, Lori Totell, has figured out a way of generating toilet roll from used nappies.
Innovation in practice
Lori is currently staying with her sister in the UK while working here as a clinical locum. As the Covid-19 pandemic sparked a wave of panic buying she became fed up with seeing empty toilet roll shelves as panic buying stripped the shops of supplies. So, she started stripping the outer layers from her 1 year old niece’s used nappies. She found a process to disinfect and turn them into perfectly soft, usable toilet roll. Lori says, “Once disinfected, I chop the material and make a pulp in clean water. Whatever glues are in the nappies still work to bring it together after the washing process”. She then used her sister’s pasta rollers to press out thin sheets to check the process worked. “An hour of drying after pressing and the loo roll was good to go!”.
More ideas in the pipeline
Lori has had huge interest through spreading the word on social media, and is planning to release a YouTube ‘How To’ video. When her locum work cancelled due to the impact of the virus on practices, she decided to use the time to think of solutions to emerging challenges. She’s currently working on home-made fibres from yoghurt pots to weave into fabrics, and using mixed recycling to bake into building bricks in a bread-maker.
If only this were true! How much would we save in landfill and relieve panic-buying frenzies? There’s an idea for social distance boredom filled days – creative solutions based thinking. So we’re throwing down the virtual gauntlet – what ideas can you come up with? Bogus, humourous and serious all welcome. Post your ideas below or on our social pages.
Happy April Fool’s day!
Find some real Covid-19 news:
Covid and Gender Part 1: Veterinary Women in a Pandemic
Covid and Gender Part 2: Mental health
Covid and Gender Part 3: The catch 22 of flexible working