eng Science and Education Publishing American Journal of Clinical Medicine Research 2328-403X 2025-02-25 13 1 13 17 10.12691/ajcmr-13-1-3 AJCMR20251313 article Alyssa Cevetello BS 1 Janae Rasmussen DO janaeleilani@gmail.com 2 Noamaan Farooqui MS 3 Mohammed Ghazali BS 4 Michael Critelli MS 5 Claudia Polanco MD 6 Angelique Dabel MS 7 Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine, Middletown NY Valley Consortium for Medical Education, Modesto, CA Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Philadelphia, PA Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, Fort Worth, TX IMG-DR Universidad Tecnol¨®gica de Santiago, Santiago, Dominican Republic SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY Environmental sustainability is a topic that continues to grow in importance throughout the world as climate change continues to progress. It has been noted that healthcare, in particular, is a great contributor to climate change due to the immense amount of materials utilized and energy consumed on a daily basis. The materials and energy consumption in hospitals, mostly due to the operating room and critical care management of patients, have implications on the environment. The demanding nature of orthopedics inevitably leads to a detrimental amount of waste, leading to unfavorable environmental impacts. These negative outcomes on the environment ultimately lead to public health concerns due to pollutants in both the air and soil. To limit the progression of climate change and decrease public health concerns, it is necessary for waste in orthopedic surgery to be reviewed. Recent studies within orthopedics have explored methods to improve environmental impacts. There have been studies conducted trialing various methods to become more environmentally adept while maintaining quality health care. Outcomes of these studies are reviewed in this paper with the goal to use evidence-based medicine to benefit public health. This literature review carries a more narrow focus as it examines recommendations to decrease waste in orthopedic surgery. https://pubs.sciepub.com/ajcmr/13/1/3/ajcmr-13-1-3.pdf orthopedic surgery sustainability waste conservation surgical waste carbon footprint