How Exam Gloves Transformed into Michigan Forests

It might seem that medical exam gloves and northern Michigan reforestation have nothing in common, but Medline and the Arbor Day Foundation have teamed up to help turn exam gloves into sustainable forests. For the second year in a row, Medline’s exam glove division partnered with Arbor Day Foundation to plant one tree per container of product it shipped to the US in 2018. This year the division planted 4,523 trees in northern Michigan bringing the two year total to 9,025 trees planted.

This year’s contribution reforested 5 acres of land with native trees species that are helping return the land to its natural state. The new trees also strengthen the work that land already does, including removing 731 tons of carbon dioxide and 90 tons of other pollutants from the air as well as intercept 305M gallons of rainfall to stabilize soils and prevent erosion over the next 40 years.

In addition, the particular tree planted, Jack Pine, provides a breeding habitat for the endangered Kirtland’s Warbler bird. Today, Kirtland’s Warblers are found in only a few counties but reforestation efforts have increased the number of Warbler pairs from less than 200 to more than 2,300, bringing the species back from the brink of extinction.

“At Medline, we know that our environment and our health are intimately intertwined,” says Paul Lishnevsky, president of exam gloves at Medline. “Our partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation is part of our larger commitment, as a leader in the healthcare industry, to preserving a healthy planet for future generations.”

Learn more about Medline’s global health and sustainability initiatives.