For most of the 20 years that Carol Stillman has helped companies design medical devices, sustainability has always come second to other concerns. "There was a perception that it just wasn't something that made sense for medical device companies to do, because the safety and efficacy was so important," says Stillman, a project and program manager at Battelle, the nonprofit science and technology consulting firm focused on contract research and development work. "Trying to take into account these environmental aspects was something that was a low priority by comparison."