Every aspect of our space has been designed
to maximize your comfort, and to reflect our commitment to environmentally
sound business practices. We've checked around, and believe we're
the first eco-friendly dental office in the country. Sustainability
permeates every aspect of our practice from biocompatible dental
materials, to walls finished with paint that doesn't contain nasty
volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
After
a rigorous multi-agency inspection process coordinated by the Bay
Area Green Business Program (www.greenbiz.ca.gov),
we are the first dental office to be certified as a green business.
We are also members of the East Bay’s Sustainable Business
Alliance (www.sustainablebiz.org
), and have taken the bold step of offsetting our electrical power
use with wind power ( www.3phases.com
).We also serve on the Steering Committee
for Sustainable Berkeley, a coalition of stakeholders committed
to making Berkeley the nation's most sustainable city. We see ourselves
as models for other health practitioners and are encouraged by the
up-tick in green health care providers.
Here is a sampling of what eco-dentistry™
means and what we do to lighten our footprint on the Earth:
Our wallpapers
are made of reclaimed paper pulp and bark
Our floors were
refinished with water-based polyurethane, our carpets are
made of untreated wool, and our flooring is Marmoleum®,
a natural alternative to vinyl which is made of flax, wood
flour and rosins
Much of our furniture
is made of recycled woods, is covered in cottons, silks and
wool and stuffed with kapok, which comes from a silk-cotton
tree
We use only steam-based
instrument sterilization, which contains no harmful chemicals
We installed a
special filtration system to allow environmentally sound disposal
of old mercury fillings, to prevent pollution of our water
system
All of the paper
in the office is recycled, and we use only digital patient
charting to reduce paper use
We wrap our instruments
in surgical-grade cloth, not disposable plastic or paper.
We use digital imaging
(not traditional x-rays), which means 75 to 90% less radiation
for our clients and no toxic x-ray development chemicals
Instead of paper
head rest covers and patient “bibs”, ours are made
of pure cotton terry cloth, washed on-site in an energy efficient
washer and dryer using natural detergents and disinfectants
Our office is lovingly
cleaned with only environmentally safe cleaning methods by
Tibby Janitorial.
smiles