Hackensack University Medical Center, home of The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center® and Greening The Cleaning®, hosted a very special guest for their Earth Day Celebration: Bella the Bride
Bella the Bride is the latest addition to the Recycle Runway Collection, a traveling exhibit showcasing sustainable fashion designs made from trash. Bella’s pure white gown was pieced and sewn out of discarded Tyvek®, a flexible, plastic, sterilizable material widely used in medical device packaging. This dress embodies the importance of repurposing discarded waste, specifically health care packaging, which would otherwise be sent to a landfill.
Bella is a creation of Beacon Converters, a sterilization packaging manufacturer for the medical device, food, and pharmaceutical industries. She is not so much a bride as she is a representation of what sustainability could look like in the healthcare industry, and beyond.
Artist and environmental educator Nancy Judd of Recycle Runway made Bella, who is a mannequin dolled up in a stylish white dress made entirely from the aforementioned Tyvek, which is a high-density polyethylene plastic. It has many uses, including as building protection during construction, sterile medical packaging, and cargo covering.
Sometimes it is necessary to see sustainability in action to understand how it works, and why it is necessary. So much of sustainability is personal responsibility, and feeling a connection to this planet and its future. We are all in this together, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health. Like a marriage, our relationship to the Earth should not be conditional, but deeply-rooted in mutual respect and love – and constantly evolving.
Nadine D’Ambrosio is responsible for business development at The Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center®. Nadine is a graduate of Montclair State University, where she received her BS degree in Business Administration. She brings 20 years of experience in sales, marketing, strategic partnerships and new product launches. Nadine resides in New Jersey and is passionate about living a healthy, active life.