October 6, 2025

Survey reveals opportunities to make kidney care more environmentally sustainable

A survey of hundreds of kidney care providers from across Canada highlights current efforts—and major opportunities—to make kidney care more environmentally sustainable. 

While kidney disease management is essential for thousands of Canadians, it can also have a significant environmental footprint through high carbon emissions, plastic waste, water consumption, and other factors. To better understand how providers are addressing these challenges, Montreal-based researcher Isabelle Ethier and colleagues surveyed more than 420 kidney care professionals, primarily nephrologists and nurses, from across the country.  

The findings show that at least 60 per cent of respondents reported one or more environmentally sustainable practice in their workplace. For some categories of practices, such as climate change adaptation and preparedness, awareness and implementation varied by province: respondents from British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan were more likely to report sustainable strategies than those from Quebec. 

The most common sustainability initiatives involved medication stewardship, clinical and office consumables, virtual care options, equipment use, and general waste management. In contrast, respondents reported less familiarity with practices such as energy sourcing, reuse of reverse osmosis reject water, and sustainable product procurement.  

Notably, while most respondents were aware of climate disaster plans in their workplace, between 40 per cent and 95 per cent (depending on province) lacked knowledge or access to information about how climate disasters might impact the delivery of kidney care. 

Overall, the study identifies important knowledge gaps among providers and highlights opportunities to reduce the environmental impact of kidney care through targeted education, planning, and policy improvements.