Before doctors and nurses go into surgery, they perform a few vital, habitual tasks.
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One of them is sterilising their hands. Another is drying them on a lint-free, blue cotton hand towel.
The towel is removed from its packaging, used once, then thrown away. At least, that is the case at some hospitals.
About 30 others donate them to Little Blue Towels, which collects and cleans the towels, re-packages them, and makes them available to the general public.
Proceeds from the sale of the absorbent towels support Bendigo-based charity The Otis Foundation, which provides retreats for people who have experienced breast cancer at no accommodation charge.
Otis was founded by a surgeon, Andrew Barling, in memory of his late wife Judy Burley.
Ms Burley died of breast cancer in 2000.
Little Blue Towels project co-ordinator Dick Phillips visited St John of God Bendigo on Monday to empty their collection bin.
Theatre nurse manager Joanne Canny said Little Blue Towels was a great initiative.
“It’s good to be able to give back,” she said.
She estimated the operating suite went through up to 30 of the towels a day.
“This year we will collect well over 100,000 towels,” Mr Phillips said. “We’re hoping to collect 200,000 in 2017.”
He estimated 12,000 towels had been sold since Little Blue Towels collections started, about eight months ago.
Customers hail from the hospitality industry, the automotive industry, and a variety of others.
Little Blue Towels employs people with a disability to launder, fold and package the towels.
Echuca-based company Laundry Mates cleans the towels, which are then trucked over to Bendigo for Radius to package.
“They are unbelievable,” Mr Phillips said.
Little Blue Towels is an initiative of The Horizon Committee, also based in Echuca.
An anaesthetist mentioned the little blue towels to committee members during the not-for-profit organisation’s flagship fundraising event, the Murray Meander.
Dr David Hays suggested the towels be recycled, rather than thrown in the rubbish.
The Horizon Committee took his suggestion on board, and so Little Blue Towels began.
The committee primarily raises money for cancer support services, such as The Otis Foundation and Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia, which funds oncology nursing scholarships to support prostate cancer services.
The Otis Foundation is the major distributor of Little Blue Towels in the Bendigo area. The towels come in packs of five and cost $5.