Sustainability at Prickly Pear Dental Care
All throughout the process of building Prickly Pear Dental Care—from the earliest stages of planning to the routines we’ve started falling into now that we’ve officially opened our doors—we’ve tried to be thoughtful not just about how we care for our patients, but also about our roles in both our local El Paso community and the world at large. Though it’s not necessarily at the crux of what we do, sustainability has genuinely been a consideration of ours since the very beginning. We’ve long held the belief that small choices and small acts truly matter, and that they can cumulatively add up to something larger and more meaningful. This philosophy underlies our approach to sustainability as well.
Before jumping into things, we think it’s important to acknowledge that—especially in dentistry—there are practical limits to what sustainability can look like. Dentistry is, by necessity, a hygiene-driven field, and sometimes this means making “imperfect” decisions from a sustainability standpoint, such as utilizing disposable or single-use materials. While sustainability truly matters to us, we are healthcare providers first and foremost, and patient health and safety always come first! We want to be transparent about this from the outset.
That being said, there are still many impactful choices within our control. Our intention with this blog post is to document, in a concrete and easy-to-understand way, the sustainability-minded decisions that we’ve made within our office. Rather than presenting this as a polished or “final” statement, we see it as a “living” list—one that we can return to and build upon as we continue to learn, grow, and refine how we operate.
Below is a snapshot of some of the sustainability-minded choices we’ve made thus far—big and small, and in no particular order:
In our waiting room, we offer beverages—including still water—exclusively in recyclable aluminum cans, with the exception of juice boxes for children. We provide a clearly marked recycling bin in the same space and ensure that these cans are kept separate from general waste.
Like most dental offices, we receive a very steady stream of dental materials and equipment shipped to us primarily in cardboard boxes. We carefully break down and separate all incoming cardboard so that it can be properly recycled rather than sent to the landfill.
We partner with a sustainability-minded medical waste company that works to divert as much of our medical waste from landfills as possible.
In our clinical spaces, Dr. Flores and our staff use non-latex gloves that are designed to be biodegradable, allowing us to reduce environmental impact while still meeting the safety and infection-control standards that modern dentistry requires.
Throughout our office—including most notably our large statement light fixtures in the reception and waiting areas—we use energy-efficient LED lighting.
When choosing our Montecillo location, sustainability was one of several factors we considered. The walkability of the area and its emphasis on thoughtful, mixed-use development promote both sustainability and community in ways that resonate with our own philosophy.
As of January 2026, we proudly partner with and financially support the Sun City Pickers, a volunteer group here in El Paso dedicated to cleaning up litter and protecting shared public spaces throughout the city.
We take a thoughtful approach to our branded items and patient giveaways, prioritizing products such as (thus far) organic cotton tote bags, pens made from recycled cardboard, plastic-free lip balm, and 100% cotton (rather than polyester/plastic) apparel. We always favor items meant to be used and kept rather than quickly discarded.
All of the plants in our office are real—even though this requires more care and maintenance—reflecting our preference for natural materials over plastic or disposable décor.
Our waiting-room rug is made from wool rather than polyester or another synthetic material.
Once again, we expect this list to grow and change over time, just as our practice does. For us, sustainability isn’t about arriving at some final destination, but about paying attention, staying thoughtful, and continuing to make better choices as opportunities arise. Really, it’s just one more way that we try to show care—for our patients, for our team, and for the El Paso community that we’re so proud to be a part of.
—Jim and Dr. Flores